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MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 



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MORNING EXERCISES 

FOR ALL THE YEAR 

H 2>as Book for fteacbers 



BY 

JOSEPH C. SINDELAR 

n 
Author of Nixie Bunny in Manners-Land 

Nixie Bunny in Workaday-Land 

The Best Christmas Book 




beckley-cardy company 

CHICAGO 



Copyright, 1914, by 
Joseph C. Sindelar 

ALL BIGHTS RESERVED 



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©CI.A380762 

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PREFACE 

This book aims at a systematic and orderly presenta- 
tion of the morning or opening exercise in the elementary 
school. Material is provided for every day of the school 
year, beginning with the first day in September and end- 
ing with the last day in June. There are as many exercises 
as there are days in the month, thus leaving the teacher 
free to a choice of lesson each day. If she feels that the 
psychological moment has arrived to consider a certain 
topic with her school she need not necessarily follow the 
subject outlined for that particular day. 

It is the author's belief that the time has come for a 
more earnest consideration of moral training and that the 
teaching of morals can usually be accomplished more 
effectively through an indirect method than by set lessons 
or formal teaching. Character is largely a matter of habit 
and too great emphasis cannot be placed upon the early 
training in right attitude and right conduct. The choice 
of subjects should be more or less incidental. When cer- 
tain events occur in the life of the nation or society which 
have ethical value, or when the birthdays of famous poets 
or statesmen or those of national heroes revive the memory 
of their virtues, the topic of the lesson is naturally de- 
termined thereby. Through concrete examples presented 
in story and verse the children learn to appreciate and ad- 
mire nobility of character and deed and their best aspira- 
tions are thus aroused. But it is better to allow the child 
to make his own inference than to force the moral upon 
him. 

The arrangement of this book, it is believed, will be found 
convenient and the plan novel. It is truly a day book for 
the teacher, correlating as it does, memory work, narrative, 



6 PREFACE 

songs and music, birthday and holiday commemorations and 
those of the seasons, together with nature, literature, science 
and art. 

Five lines of thought have been kept constantly in mind. 
First: The teaching of the common virtues through mem- 
ory selections culled from the best in literature. There 
can be nothing better than the learning of these golden 
gems. Second: Through the story which is related to the 
quotation and the daily topic. Third : Through biography, 
using famous characters of history and literature to arouse 
ideals, to kindle ambition, and to nourish a belief in one's 
power to do something and to cultivate a sense of worth 
and a feeling of self-respect. Fourth: Through the song, 
which conforms daily to the thought of the lesson. Fifth : 
Through the references which allow an enlarging upon the 
subject in hand. These consist of songs, additional stories 
and poems, Bible readings, birthdays and special days. It 
is well to speak of the birthday of an author or other noted 
person on the day before its occurrence and ask the pupils 
to be able to tell something of interest in regard to the 
person the next morning. In the case of an author pupils 
should be asked to bring in to be read or recited one or more 
selections from his works. In that of an artist, show repro- 
ductions of some of his paintings. In that of a musician 
have one or more of his compositions played or sung. 

J. C. S. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 5 

September ........ 9 

October 31 

November ........ 59 

December 81 

January 103 

February 127 

March 151 

April 173 

May 195 

June .217 

Index . . . ... . . .239 

List of Reference Books 252 



MORNING EXERCISES FOR 
ALL THE YEAR 

SEPTEMBER 

1 LABOE DAY 

[Labor Day is the first Monday in September and is 
a legal holiday in nearly every state of the Union.] 

Work for some good, be it ever so slowly; 
Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly; 
Labor, all labor is noble and holy. 

— Mrs. F. 8. Osgood 

LABOR DAY: ITS ORIGIN AND OBSERVANCE 

Labor Day owes its origin to several causes. Perhaps 
the earliest of these was the formation of labor societies, 
such as the Knights of Labor, which was founded in Phila- 
delphia in 1869. At one of the meetings of this society 
in New York City in 1882, a suggestion was offered that one 
day of the year be set aside when laborers or workingmen 
should not labor, but might go out and show that labor in 
this country is free and dignified. Later, some of the states 
passed laws making Labor Day a holiday, because the legis- 
lators wished to show their sympathy with the working 
class, many of whom could not afford to miss a day's pay 
by taking a vacation, and so a day was set apart when they 
could legally enjoy themselves and not lose their wages. 
In other states it was adopted for political reasons, the 
leaders hoping thus to secure the good will and the votes 
of the workingmen for whom they obtained the holiday. 



10 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

The idea has been growing in favor since the first Labor 
Day, in 1888, when Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey 
and New York observed the day as a legal holiday. In 
1894 Congress passed an act making the first Monday in 
September a legal public holiday, or "national holiday." 
This law is a recognition by the national government of 
the importance and significance of the new holiday, which 
had already been made a legal holiday in twenty-seven 
states and one territory. 

Read: "Labor is Worship,' ' by Frances S. Osgood; 
"The Man with the Hoe," by Edwin Markham; "Bur- 
den of Labor" and "The Village Blacksmith," by Henry 
W. Longfellow ; " The Song of the Shirt, ' ' by Thomas Hood ; 
Bible, Matt. 25:14-30. 

Sing: "Labor Day," from Songs in Season. 

Birthday: Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney, an American 
author, born in Norwich, Conn., September 1, 1791 ; died in 
Hartfoid, Conn., June 10, 1865. 

2 THE CHILDKEN'S POET 

I look in the brook and see a face, 

Heigh-ho, but the years go by! 
The rushes are dead in the old-time place, 

And the willows I knew when a child was I. 
And the brook it seemeth to me to say, 
As ever it stealeth on its way, 
Solemnly now and not in play: 
"Oh, come with me 
To the slumberous sea 
That is gray with the peace of the evening sky!" 
Heigh-ho, but the years go by, 
I would to God that a child were I! 

— Eugene Field 

THE STORY OF EUGENE FIELD 

To-day is the birthday of one of the best friends that 
children ever had. Eugene Field was a little Western boy 
who lived with his aunt, his mother having died when he 



SEPTEMBER H 

was but seven years old. His father did not live with him, 
but they corresponded regularly, so that Eugene learned 
early to express his thoughts in writing. He was of a 
rollicking, joyous disposition, and so made many friends 
at school. Later he went to college and studied law as his 
father had done. But law did not appeal to his poetic tem- 
perament and he soon gave that up so that he might devote 
all his time to writing. 

He loved little children and would lay aside his work at 
any time to play with them, tell them stories, or sing them 
beautiful lullabies. He used to buy all sorts of queer toys, 
playthings, and sugar plums for his own little children and 
for little strangers with whom he always made friends. 
He knew that these are the things that children love best 
and we find his verses full of them. Mr. Field also loved 
flowers, beautiful pictures and animals. He always had 
pets about him and these he cared for himself with the 
greatest tenderness. He was devoted to his wife and home, 
and could never bear to be away from them for very long 
at a time. He had the most precious memory of his 
mother, and it often made him feel sad to think that she 
had so early in life been taken away from him. "I have 
a thousandfold more than my deserts," he would say, "yet, 
if my mother had but lived to feel a little, just a little, 
proud of her boy. ' ' 

Read: "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod," the most perfect 
child poem ever written; ''Little Boy Blue," "The Sugar- 
Plum Tree," "The Duel," "Sleepy Song." Chutter's 
Art-Literature Third Reader contains many stories and 
poems in the section devoted to Eugene Field. 

Sing: Any of Field's beautiful lyrics set to music as 
found in Songs of Childhood. 

Birthday: Eugene Field, "the children's poet," born in 
St. Louis, Mo., September 2, 1850; died in Chicago, 111., 
November 4, 1895. 



12 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

3 WOEZ 

Let Labor, then lool? up and see 

His craft no pith of honor lacks; 
The soldier's rifle yet shall be 

Less honored than the woodman's axe. 

KINGS OF THE PAST AND PRESENT 

The kings of the past have sat on thrones and made others 
serve them. The kings of the future will be those who do 
the world's work and serve others best. We honor the 
man who works with his hands and conquers the earth. 
His hands may be coarse, his body bent, but if his work 
is honest, he is king as much as any man. We also honor 
the man who works with his brain. He who works hon- 
estly and well with his hands, blesses the world; he who 
works honestly and well with his brain, and gives to the 
world a good book, a noble picture, an inspiring song, labors 
to leave a blessing in the mind of another that will live 
when the things built with the hand alone have fallen to 
pieces. 

Read: "The Sailor Man," from The Pig Brother, by 
Laura E. Richards; "For a' That," by Robert Burns; 
"Workingman's Song," by Charles Mackay; Bible, Prov. 
6:6-11. 

Sing: "Work, for the Night is Coming," from Uncle 
Sam's School Songs. 

4 PERSEVERANCE 

There are as many pleasant things, 

As many pleasant tones, 
For those who dwell by cottage hearths 

As those who sit on thrones. 

— Phoebe Cary 

THE STORY OF PHOEBE CARY 

Phcebe Caey was born in a low and small brown house, 
which stood on an old-fashioned country homestead or 



SEPTEMBER 13 

farm. Her mother died when Phoebe was a little girl, and 
as her father was poor, neither she nor her sister Alice 
could attend school very much. But they studied and read 
a great deal at home. As they had no lamps in the houses 
then, and her father couldn't afford candles, the two girls 
made a lamp by using a saucer with a rag in it for a wick, 
and by this strange light they would read and write until 
late into the night. When Phoebe was fourteen she began 
to compose verses, and at seventeen she was able to write 
quite well. She and her sister lived together all their lives 
and cared much for each other. The last twenty years of 
their lives were spent at their home in New York City, but 
they never forgot "the good old-fashioned homestead" 
where they were born. They both died the same year, 
in 1871. 

Read: "Nobody's Child," "Our Homestead," "Sup- 
pose" and "Now," by Phoebe Cary; Mary Clemmer's 
Memorial of Alice and Phoebe Cary, and Whittier's "The 
Singer." 

Sing : ' ' Nearer Home " ( a hymn by Phoebe Cary) , found 
in almost any hymn book. 

Birthday: Phoebe Cary, an American poet, born near 
Cincinnati, Ohio, September 4, 1824; died in Newport, 
R. I., July 31, 1871. 

5 PATIENCE 

Just a little every day; 

That's the way 
Children learn to read and write, 
Bit by bit and mite by mite, 

Never any one, I say, 
Leaps to knowledge and its power. 
Slowly, slowly — hour by hour — 

That's the way; 

Just a little every day. 

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox 



14 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

6 PATRIOTISM 

The moment I heard of America, I loved her; the 
moment I knew she was fighting for freedom, I burnt 
with a desire of bleeding for her; and the moment I 
shall be able to serve her at any time or in any part 
of the world, will be the happiest one of my life. 

— Lafayette 

AMERICA'S DEBT TO LAFAYETTE 

America owes a great deal to this gallant young French- 
man 1 who crossed the seas to aid the colonies. He was 
among the first of those foreigners who showed the colonists 
that the love of liberty was as wide as the world. He 
came when hope was low, and his coming meant much to 
the brave men who had to undergo the long, discouraging 
winter at Valley Forge, and the days when it seemed as 
though time would prove them only rebels and not patriots. 
He brought ships, and men, and money to aid in the great 
cause, but more than all these were his own magnetic 
personality and the buoyant spirit that refused to be cast 
down. — Historic Boyhoods 

Read: "Lafayette, the Boy of Versailles, ' ' from His- 
toric Boyhoods, by Holland; Story of Lafayette, by Mar- 
garet J. Codd. 

Sing: "Hail! Columbia," from American School Songs. 

Birthday: Marquis de Lafayette, born in Auvergne, 
France, September 6, 1757; died in Paris, France, May 
20, 1834. 

7 CHARITY 

This world is not so bad a world 

As some would like to make it; 
Though whether good or whether bad, 

Depends on how we take it. 

— M. W. Beck 



iHe was but twenty years old then, having set sail for America 
April 20, 1777, in a boat happily named La Victoire. 



SEPTEMBER 15 

THE DOVE AND THE WOODPECKER 

A dove and a woodpecker had been visiting a peacock. 
''How did you like our host?" asked the woodpecker, after 
their visit. "Is he not very disagreeable! His vanity, 
shapeless feet, and his harsh voice are unbearable. Don't 
you think so?" "Indeed I had no time," said the gentle 
dove, "to notice these things; I was so occupied with the 
beauty of his head, the gorgeousness of his colors, and the 
majesty of his train." 

Sing: "Life is What We Make It," from Merry 
Melodies. 

8 AUTUMN 

Summer's a step behind us, 

And Autumn's a thought before, 

And each fleet, sweet day that we meet on the way- 
Is an angel at the door. 

Read: "The Anxious Leaf," from Household Stories, 
by Klingensmith. 
"Autumn Leaves," from Songs in Season. 

Sing: "Autumn," from American School Songs, or 

Birthdays: Ludovieo Ariosto, a famous Italian poet, 
born at Reggio, Italy, September 8, 1474; died in Ferrara, 
Italy, June 6, 1533. 

Antonin Dvorak, a noted musician, born in Miihlhausen, 
Bohemia, September 8, 1841 ; died in Prague, Bohemia, 
May 1, 1904. 

9 HABITS 

How shall I a habit break? 
As you did that habit make. 
As we builded stone by stone, 
We must toil unhelped, alone, 
'Till the wall is overthrown. 

—O'Reilly 



16 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

THE FORMING OF HABITS 

How are habits formed ? When we repeat an act many 
times, we finally do it easily without thinking, and it 
becomes a habit. In time we find it difficult to do that 
thing in a different way, or to leave off doing it. Walking 
is a habit. So are sitting and standing in a certain way. 
There are two kinds of habits : good habits and bad habits. 
One's habits make up one's character. What are some of 
the good habits? Cleanliness, politeness, obedience, cheer- 
fulness, good will, self-control, industry, courage, generos- 
ity, honesty, respect.) Bad habits? (Swearing, gossiping, 
drinking, smoking, etc.) Have you ever watched a monkey 
imitate the actions of a person? Have you ever "caught" 
the habits of another person, as biting the nails, talking 
or laughing loudly, shuffling or dragging the feet, squint- 
ing? Good habits make gentlemen and ladies of us. They 
also make many friends for us. Habits make or ruin our 
lives. Therefore, too great stress cannot be laid on the 
early forming of good habits. 

10 HABITS 

[Continued] 

All habits gather by unseen degrees 

As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas. 

— Dryden 

HABIT 

There was once a horse that used to pull around a sweep 
which lifted dirt from the depths of the earth. He was 
kept at the business for nearly twenty years, until he 
became old, blind and too stiff in the joints for further use. 
So he was turned into a pasture, or left to crop the grass 
without any one to disturb or bother him. But the funny 
thing about the old horse was that every morning after 
grazing awhile he would start on a tramp, going round 



SEPTEMBER 17 

and round in a circle, just as he had been accustomed to 
do for so many years. He would keep it up for hours, and 
people often stopped to look and wonder what had got into 
the head of the venerable animal to make him walk around 
in such a solemn way when there was no earthly need of 
it. But it was the force of habit. And the boy who forms 
bad or good habits in his youth will be led by them when 
he becomes old, and will be miserable or happy accordingly. 

— The Evangelist 

Sing: "Be Careful What You Sow," from American 
School Songs. 

11 CONTENTMENT 

Why sigh you for jewels ? There's plenty, I ween, 
For out on the currant-bush rubies I've seen. 
There are emeralds hid in each glistening leaf, 
And topazes rare in the wheat's golden sheaf; 
There are pearls on the snow-berry bush, little lass, 
And diamonds hid in the dew on the grass. 
Then search in the garden, in morn's early dew; 
Go gather your jewels, God made them for you. 

— A Little Maid's Jewels 

Read: "The Discontented Pine Tree," from Household 
Stories, by Klingensmith ; "The Country Mouse and the 
Town Mouse," from Scudder's Fables and Folk Stories; 
"Cornelia's. Jewels," from Baldwin's Fifty Famous Sto- 
ries Retold. 

12 TRUE WORTH 

A great nation is made only by worthy citizens. 
— Charles Dudley Warner 

ROOM AT THE TOP 

It is related of Mr. Webster that, when a young lawyer 
suggested to him that the profession to which he had 
devoted himself was overcrowded, the great man replied, 
"Young man, there is always room enough at the top." 



18 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Never was a wiser or more suggestive word said. There 
undoubtedly is always room enough where excellency lives. 

— Josiah G. Holland 

Read: "He Aimed High and Hit the Mark" and 
" There is Room Enough at the Top," from Marden's 
Stories from Life. 

Sing: "Learn a Little Every Day," from Merry 
Melodies. 

Birthdays : Richard J. Gatling, the inventor of the Gat- 
ling gun, which is used in the United States army, born in 
Hertford Co., N. C, September 12, 1818 ; died in New York 
City, February 26, 1903. 

Charles Dudley Warner, an American writer, born in 
Plainfield, Mass., September 12, 1829; died October 20, 
1900. 

13 SEPTEMBER DAYS 

September days are here, 

With summer's best of weather 

And autumn's best of cheer. 

— Helen Hunt Jackson 

Sing: " September Days," from Hanson's Gems of 
Song. 

14 OBEDIENCE 

If you're told to do a thing, 

And mean to do it really, 
Never let it be by halves; 

Do it fully, freely. 

— Phoebe Cary 

THE GIRL IN THE BROOK 

One day Mary and her mother crossed the little stream 
that came from the pond. The stones and sand were white 
and smooth. 



SEPTEMBER 19 

' ' May I play in the water, Mother ? ' ' asked Mary. ' ' Yes, 
if you turn your dress up so that it will not get wet," 
said her mother. 

By and by there was a noise like thunder. It seemed 
to come from the pond. 

''Quick, Mary, come here," cried her mother. Mary 
did not stop to ask why. She ran to the place where her 
mother stood. Then she looked back. The stream was 
pouring over the rocks. The great water-gate by the dam 
was open. If Mary had waited she would have been car- 
ried down the stream into the river. There is not always 
time to ask why. — N. Y. Teachers' Monographs 

Read: "Raggylug," as adapted from Ernest Thompson 
Seton 's Wild Animals I Have Known, in How to Tell Sto- 
ries to Children, by Sara Cone Bryant ; Bible, Prov. 4 : 1-5. 

Sing: "Duty and Inclination," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthday: Charles Dana Gibson, an American artist, 
born in Roxbury, Mass., September 14, 1867 ; lives in New 
York City. 

15 COURAGE 

If you are about to strive for your life, take with 
you a stout heart and a clean conscience, and trust the 
rest to God. — From "The Pilot" by J. Fenimore Cooper. 

COOPER'S LITERARY LIFE 

Cooper's literary life is said to have begun in rather a 
curious way. One evening while reading an English novel 
to his wife, he declared that he could write a better one 
himself. To prove it he wrote Precaution, which was pub- 
lished anonymously in 1819. The book attracted very little 
attention and is said to have been disowned by its author. 
However, this did not discourage Cooper. In fact it set 
him to work harder than ever to prove his contention, and 



20 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

in 1821, The Spy, a novel founded on incidents of the 
American Kevolution, was published and became popular at 
once. This was followed by thirty-eight other books, nearly 
all of which are widely read and liked. 

Eead: Selections from Cooper's works, as The Beer- 
slayer, The Spy, The Pilot, The Last of the Mohicans, etc. 

Sing: ''The Secret of Success," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: James Fenimore Cooper, a noted American 
novelist, born at Burlington, N. J., September 15, 1789; 
died at Cooperstown, N. Y., September 14, 1851. 

William Howard Taft, twenty-seventh President of the 
United States, born in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 15, 1857. 

16 WORK 

Let us, then, be up and doing, 

With a heart for any fate; 
Still achieving, still pursuing, 

Learn to labor and to wait. 

— Longfellow 

Birthdays: Anne Bradstreet, author of the first book 
of poetry written in America, born in Northampton, Eng- 
land, about 1612; died at Andover, Mass., September 16, 
1672. 

Francis Parkman, an American writer of history, born 
in Boston, Mass., September 16, 1823; died at Jamaica 
Plain, near Boston, November 8, 1893. 

Hamlin Garland, an American author, born at West 
Salem, Wis., Sept. 16, 1861 ; lives in Chicago. 

17 GRATITUDE 

I thank Thee, Lord, for quiet rest, 

And for Thy care of me; 
Oh, let me through this day be blest, 

And kept from harm by Thee. 



SEPTEMBER 21 

Oh, let me thank Thee; kind Thou art 

To children such as I; 
Give me a gentle, loving heart; 

Be Thou my Friend on high. 

Help me to please my parents dear, 

And do whate'er they tell; 
Bless all my friends, both far and near, 

And keep them safe and well. 

— Osgood 

18 PERSEVERANCE 

Great works are performed, not by strength but by 
perseverance. — Samuel Johnson 

THE STORY OF SAMUEL JOHNSON 

When Samuel Johnson was a little boy, his family was 
very poor, and his chances of obtaining an education were 
slight. His father was a bookseller, and as soon as little 
Samuel was old enough he would visit his father's shop and 
pore over the books on the shelves. Most boys would have 
learned little this way, but much that was dull to ordinary 
lads was interesting to Samuel. 

While he was thus picking up knowledge, his father's 
business declined, and the family was placed in hopeless 
poverty. Samuel studied several years at Oxford, but was 
too poor to finish his course. He was being sneered at for 
his ragged appearance. Fun was made of him because of 
the holes in his shoes. Then his father died, after which 
for a good many years Samuel 's life was one hard struggle 
with poverty. 

He opened a school, but this proved a failure. He 
wasn 't going to give up, however, and so began writing for 
magazines and doing other literary work for very small 
pay. Later he became famous as a writer. He prepared 
the first good dictionary of the English language that was 
ever written. One of his books is said to have been written 
in the evenings of a single week. 



22 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Birthday: Samuel Johnson, a famous English writer, 
born in Lichfield, England, September 18, 1709; died in 
London, England, December 13, 1784. 

19 WOEK 

The heights by great men reached and kept 

Were not attained by sudden flight; 
But they, while their companions slept, 

Were toiling upward through the night. 

— Longfelloiv 

Read: "I Will Paint or Die," and ''The Boy Who 
Said 'I Must/ " from Marden's Stories from Life; Bible, 
Prov. 10 : 1-5. 

Sing : * ' Work and Play, ' ' from Kellogg 's Best Primary 
Songs. 

20 TRUTHFULNESS 

Oh, what a tangled web we weave 
When first we practice to deceive. 
—Scott 

PRESIDENT GRANT'S WAY 

A very important meeting was being held in the Capitol 
at Washington. A caller asked to see President Grant. 
Some one said to the servant who brought the message: 
"Tell the man that President Grant is not in." 

"No," said the President, who heard the order, "tell 
him no such thing. I don't lie myself, and I don't wish 
any of my servants to lie for me. ' ' 

Read: "George Washington and His Hatchet," from 
Baldwin's Fifty Famous Stories; "The Honest Woodman," 
from Boston Collection of Kindergarten Stories. 

21 WRONGING OTHERS 

Oh, many a shaft at random sent 
Finds mark the archer little meant; 
And many a word at random spoken, 
May soothe or wound a heart that's broken. 

—Scott 



SEPTEMBER 23 

AN INCIDENT IN SCOTT'S LIFE 

Sir Walter Scott related the following incident of his 
own life to an intimate friend : 

There was a boy in his class at school, who always stood 
at the top, nor could the utmost efforts of young Scott dis- 
place him. At length he observed, when a question was 
asked this boy, he always fumbled with his fingers at a 
particular button on the lower part of his waistcoat; and 
the removal of this was, therefore, determined. The plot 
was executed, and succeeded too well. When the boy was 
again questioned, his fingers sought again for the button, 
but it could not be found. In his distress he looked down 
for it, but it was not to be seen. He stood confounded, and 
Scott took possession of his place, which the boy never 
recovered. The wrong thus done was, however, attended, 
as it always must be, with pain. "Often," said Scott, "in 
after life, the sight of him smote me." Heartily did he 
wish that this unkind act had never been done. 

Let it constantly be remembered, that we are not left to 
act as we please; — the rule is of the highest authority: 
"Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
even so to them." 

Birthdays: Louis Joliet, a French traveler, one of the 
first to explore the Mississippi river, born in Quebec, 
Ontario, Canada, September 21, 1645; died in the 
year 1700. 

John Loudon Macadam, inventor of the roads called 
after him "macadamized roads," born in Ayr, Scotland, 
September 21, 1756; died at Moffat, Scotland, November 
26, 1836. 

Sir Walter Scott, a famous Scottish novelist and poet, 
born in Edinburgh, Scotland, August 15, 1771; died at 
Abbotsford, Scotland, September 21, 1832. 



24 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

22 POLITENESS 

Hearts, like doors, will ope with ease 
To very, very little keys; 
And don't forget that two are these: 
/ thank you, sir, and // you please. 



23 TEUE WORTH 

Traverse the desert, and ye can tell 
What treasures exist in the cold deep well; 
Sink in despair on the red parch'd earth, 
And then ye may reckon what water is worth. 

— Eliza Cook 



THE KING'S GAEDEN 

Once there was a king who owned a beautiful flower 
garden. One evening he walked among his flowers, glad 
that they were so full of beauty. The next morning one of 
his servants told him that his garden had been destroyed 
in the night. 

The king hurried to the garden, and found the roses 
hanging their heads; the vines lying withered on the 
ground, and the trees quite leafless. Of one of the roses 
he asked: "Why is this?" The rose replied: "What is 
the use of blooming? A rose can live but a day or two 
at most." The king asked the same question of the vine. 
It answered: "It is so little that we can give. We had 
better give nothing." The tree said: "I am useless. I 
just stand here idle." 

Then at his feet the king saw a little pansy blooming 
beautifully. He asked why it was not fading too, and it 
replied, "King, you put me here, and I try to be just the 
best little flower I can." 

Then the king said : "0 flowers, vine, and tree, if each 
one does his best, even though it be but little, what more 
can he do?" —Selected 



SEPTEMBER 25 

Sing: " Looks, Words and Deeds," from Kellogg 's Best 
Primary Songs. 

Birthday : Eliza Cook, an English poet, born in London, 
England, about 1818; died at Thornton Hall, Wimbledon, 
England, September 23, 1889. 

24 KINDNESS TO ANIMALS 

I will try to be kind to all harmless, living creatures, 
and to protect them from cruel usage. 

— Pledge of Band of Mercy 

LINCOLN'S KINDNESS TO BIRDS 

The following incident is related by one who knew Lin- 
coln, and who, at the time of the incident, was his fellow- 
traveler. 

We passed through a thicket of wild plum and crabapple 
trees, and stopped to water our horses. One of the party 
came up alone, and we inquired, ' ' Where is Lincoln ? ' ' 

"Oh," he replied, "when I saw him last, he had caught 
two young birds which the wind had blown out of their 
nest, and he was hunting for the nest that he might put 
them back in it." 

In a short time Lincoln came up, having found the nest 
and restored the birds. The party laughed at his care of 
the young birds ; but Lincoln said, ' ' I could not have slept 
if I had not restored those little birds to their mother. ' ' 

Read: "Androclus and the Lion," from Baldwin's 
Fifty Famous Stories Retold. 

Sing: "The Bird with a Broken Wing," from Uncle 
Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays: Antoine Louis Barye, a famous sculptor, 
celebrated for his animal sculptures, born in Paris, France, 
September 24, 1795 ; died in Paris, June 25, 1875. 



26 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

John Marshall, chief- justice of the United States, born 
in Fauquier Co., Va., September 24, 1755; died in Phila- 
delphia, Pa., July 6, 1835. 

25 CHAKACTER 

Oh! let us live, so that flower by flower, 

Shutting in turn may leave 
A lingerer still for the sunset hour, 

A charm for the shaded eve. 

— Mrs. Felicia D. Hemans 

Read: "The Point of View," from The Golden Win- 
dows, by Richards. 

Sing : "To Our Friends, ' ' from Kellogg 's Best Primary 
Songs. 

Birthdays: Mrs. Felicia D. Hemans, an English poet, 
born in Liverpool, England, September 25, 1794 ; died near 
Dublin, Ireland, May 12, 1835. 

Gaetano Donizetti, a noted Italian writer of operas, born 
in Bergamo, Italy, September 25, 1798; died in Bergamo, 
April 8, 1848. Composer of La Favorita, Lucia di Lam- 
mermoor, and about sixty other operas. 

26 PATIENCE 

Teach me, Father, how to be, 
Kind and patient as a tree. 

— Edioin Markham 

Read: "How the Leaves Came Down," by Susan Cool- 
idge; "Talking in Their Sleep," by Edith Thomas; "The 
Little Rooster," from Boston Collection of Kindergarten 
Stories. 

Sing: "Morning Song," from Hanson's Gems of Song. 

27 NEATNESS 

Let thy mind's sweetness have its operation 
Upon thy body, clothes, and habitation. 



SEPTEMBER 27 

THE BOY WHO RECOMMENDED HIMSELF 

A gentleman advertised for a boy to assist him in his 
office, and nearly fifty applicants presented themselves to 
him. Out of the whole number, he selected one, and dis- 
missed the rest. "I should like to know," said a friend, 
"on what ground you selected that boy, who had not a 
single recommendation. ' ' "You are mistaken," said the 
gentleman, "he had a great many. He wiped his feet 
when he came in, and closed the door after him, showing 
that he was careful. He gave his seat instantly to that 
lame old man, showing that he was kind and thoughtful. 
He took off his cap when he came in, and answered my 
questions promptly, showing that he was polite and gentle- 
manly. He picked up the book, which I had purposely 
laid on the floor, and replaced it upon the table, while all 
the rest stepped over it, showing that he was orderly ; and 
he waited quietly for his turn, instead of pushing and 
crowding. When I talked to him, I noticed that his cloth- 
ing was tidy, his hair neatly brushed, and his finger nails 
clean. Do you not call these things letters of recommenda- 
tion? I do." —Little Corporal 

Birthday : Samuel Adams, an American patriot and one 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, born in 
Boston, Mass., September 27, 1722 ; died in Boston, October 
2, 1803. 

28 CHARITY 

I will speak more kindly and considerately to those 
whose claims are unrecognized by the society in which 
I live, than I will to others. I will bow more cordially 
to those to whom persons of position do not bow at all, 
and I will try in a thousand pleasant, nameless ways 
to make them happier. God help me to keep my 
promise good! — Frances E. Willard 

Birthday: Frances E. Willard, lecturer, reformer and 
philanthropist, born in Churchville, N. Y., September 28, 
1839 ; died in New York City, February 17, 1898. 



28 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

29 TEMPERANCE 

More are drowned in the bowl than in the sea. 

— Publius Syrus 

THE TWO WORKERS 

BY JOHN W. AVERY 

Two workers in one field 

Toiled on from day to day; 
Both had the same hard labor, 

Both had the same small pay, 
With the same blue sky above, 

And the same green earth below, 
One sonl was full of love, 

The other full of woe. 

One leaped up with the light, 

With the soaring of the lark; 
One felt his woe each night, 

For his soul was ever dark. 
One heart was hard as stone, 

One heart was ever gay ; 
One toiled with many a groan, 

One whistled all the day. 

One had a flower-clad cot 

Beside a merry mill ; 
Wife and children near the spot, 

Made it sweeter, fairer still. 
One a wretched hovel had, 

Full of discord, dirt and din; 
No wonder he seemed mad, 

Wife and children starved within. 

Still they worked in the same field, 
Toiling on from day to day ; 

Both had the same hard labor, 
Both had the same small pay. 



SEPTEMBER 29 

But they worked not with one will — 

The reason, let me tell: 
Lo! one drank at the still, 

And the other at the well. 

Read : Bible, Prov. 20 : 1 ; 21 : 17 ; 23 : 19-23. 

Sing: "The Flower's Drink/' from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 

Birthday: John McAllister Schofield, an American gen- 
eral, born in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., September 29, 1831 ; 
died March 4, 1906. 

30 FIDELITY IN DUTY 

Though your duty may be hard, 

Look not on it as an ill; 
If it be an honest task 

Do it with an honest will. 

— Richard B. Sheridan 

THE FAITHFUL LITTLE HOLLANDER 

In some parts of Holland the land lies so low, that the 
people build great walls of earth, called dikes, to keep out 
the sea. Sometimes the waves break down these walls, and 
then the sea rushes in through the breach, and spreads 
over the land, often doing great damage. Houses have 
thus been washed away, and many people drowned. 

Once as a little boy was going home in the evening, he 
saw a hole in one of the dikes, through which the water 
was trickling. His father had often told him that when 
this happened, unless the water was stopped, it would soon 
make the hole so large that the sea would rush in and 
overflow the land. 

At first he thought he would run home and tell his father. 
But then he said to himself, "It may be dark before father 
can come, and we shall not be able to find the hole again ; 
or it may get so large that it will be too late to stop it. 
I must stay now, and do the best I can alone. ' ' 



30 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

The brave little boy sat down, and stopped the hole with 
earth, holding it with his hand to keep back the water. 
There he staid hour after hour in the cold and the dark, 
all through the night. 

In the morning a man came past and saw him. He could 
not think what the boy was doing; and so he called out to 
him, "What are you doing there, my boy?" — "There is a 
hole in the dike/' said the boy, "and I am keeping back 
the water." 

Poor little boy ! He was so cold and tired that he could 
scarcely speak. The man came quickly and set him free. 
He had the hole closed up, and thus the land was saved, 
thanks to the faithful and brave boy. — Royal Reader 

Read: " Findelkind, " by De la Ramee, from Bimhi 
Stories. 

Sing: "Here's to that Boy," from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 

Birthday: Richard B. Sheridan, a British writer and 
statesman, born in Dublin, Ireland, September 30, 1751; 
died in London, England, July 7, 1816. 



OCTOBER 



1 HEROISM 

Heroism is simple, and yet it is rare. Every one who 
does the best he can is a hero. — Josh Billings 



"DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP!" 

In the War of 1812, there was in our navy a ship called 
the Hornet, with Captain James Lawrence as its com- 
mander. One day it engaged in battle with the English 
vessel Peacock. So fast and so thick flew the balls, so hot 
and so terrible was the battle, that in fifteen minutes the 
proud Peacock had lost all her glory and her pride, all her 
beauty and her courage, and lay upon the waters a complete 
wreck. Her commander surrendered to Lawrence, the 
crew were taken prisoners and transferred to the Hornet. 

Later Captain Lawrence was given another vessel and 
met the English vessel Shannon in battle. After a hot, 
fierce battle Lawrence's ship was wrecked and Lawrence 
himself, who always stood in the very thickest of the fire, 
was mortally wounded. 

Very carefully did his officers carry below their much 
loved commander; and Lawrence, not forgetting his 
charge even in dying, whispered, almost with his last 
breath, * ' Don 't give up the ship ! ' ' — Adapted 

Sing: "America" or "The Star-Spangled Banner." 
Birthday: James Lawrence, a noted American naval 

officer, born in Burlington, N. J., October 1, 1781; died 

January 5, 1813. 



32 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

2 OCTOBER'S BRIGHT WEATHER 

O suns and skies and flowers of June, 

Count all your boasts together, 
Love loveth best of all the year, 

October's bright blue weather. 

— Helen Hunt Jackson 

Birthday : Major John Andre, a British officer lianged 
as a spy in the War of the Revolution, born of Swiss par- 
ents in London, England, 1751; hanged at Tappan, N. Y., 
October 2, 1780. 

3 FRIENDSHIP 

The friendship between me and you I will not com- 
pare to a chain ; for that rains might rust, or the falling 
tree might break. 

— From "History of the United States" 
by George Bancroft 

DAMON AND PYTHIAS 

More than two thousand years ago two young men who 
were intimate friends lived in Greece. Their names were 
Damon and Pythias. 

The ruler of the country, named Dionysius, was a cruel 
man. He put Pythias into prison and set a day for his 
death. Pythias had done nothing wrong, but he had con- 
victed the ruler of wrong-doing. 

The father and mother of Pythias lived in another part 
of the country. "May I go home to bid them good-by, 
and to arrange my affairs before I die?" he asked. 

The ruler laughed. "That is a strange request,' ' said 
he. "Of course you would escape and you would never 
come back.'' 

At that moment Damon stepped forward. "I am his 
friend, ' ' he said. I will stay in prison till Pythias returns. ' ' 

Then the ruler asked: "What will happen if Pythias 
does not return ?" 

"I will die for him," said Damon. 



OCTOBER 33 

This surprised Dionysius very much. He put Damon in 
prison and Pythias went home. Weeks went by and 
Pythias did not return. At last the day of execution came, 
and Damon was led out to be put to death. He said: 
"Pythias will come if he is alive. I can trust him 
absolutely. ' ' 

Just then soldiers ran up, shouting: "Here he comes! 
Here he comes !" 

Yes, there was Pythias, breathless with haste. He had 
been shipwrecked on his journey and had been cast on shore 
many miles away. He had walked all those miles to get 
back in time. 

Dionysius was greatly moved. "You are both free, " said 
he. "I would give all I have for one such friend. Will 
you let me become a friend to you both?" 

— Ethics for Children 

Kead : Bible, Prov. 27 : 9-10. 

Sing : ' ' Auld Lang Syne. ' ' 

Birthdays: Miles Standish, the first military leader of 
the Puritan settlers in New England, born in Lancashire, 
England, about 1584; died in Duxbury, Mass., October 
3, 1656. 

George Bancroft, an American statesman and historian, 
born in Worcester, Mass., October 3, 1800; died at Wash- 
ington, D. C, January 17, 1891. 

Elias Howe, a noted American inventor, born in Spencer, 
Mass., July 9, 1819; died in Brooklyn, N. Y., October 3, 
1867. 

4 HONOR 

The soul asks honor, and not fame; to be upright, 
not to be successful, to be good, not prosperous; to be 
essentially, not outwardly, respectable. 

— Robert Louis Stevenson 

Birthdays: Jean Francois Millet, a French painter, 



34 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

born in Gruchy, France, October 4, 1814 ; died at Barbizon, 
near Paris, France, January 18, 1875. 

Rutherford B. Hayes, nineteenth president of the United 
States, born in Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822; died at 
Fremont, Ohio, January 17, 1893. 

Frederic Remington, an American artist and author, 
born in Canton, N. Y., October 4, 1861 ; died at Ridgefield, 
Conn., December 26, 1909. 

5 SELF-EELIANCE 

I hold it truth with him who sings 
To one clear harp in divers tones, 
That men may rise on stepping-stones 

Of their dead selves to higher things. 

— Tennyson 

THE JUDGE'S BENCH 

One who cultivates self-reliance will grow stronger 
physically, mentally and morally. It is better for one to 
inherit a character for honesty, industry, and self-reliance 
than to inherit a fortune in money. The former may grow, 
the latter may go. 

A former United States judge began his career as a 
carpenter, using his spare time in the study of law. One 
day he was planing a board which was to become a part 
of a judge 's bench. A friend who was observing his pains- 
taking effort, said to him: "Why do you take so great 
pains to make it smooth V 

"Because I want a smooth seat when I come to sit upon 
it," was the reply. After a number of years of persistent 
effort he came to sit on that same bench. 

Read: "The Lark and Her Young Ones/' from Boston 
Collection of Kindergarten Stories. 

Sing: "Life is Real, Life is Earnest,' ' from Uncle 
Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays : Chester A. Arthur, twenty-first president of 



OCTOBER 35 

the United States, born at Fairfield, Vt, October 5, 1830; 
died at New York City, November 18, 1886. 

William Hamilton Gibson, American author, artist, and 
naturalist, born at Sandy Hook, Conn., October 5, 1850; 
died in Washington, Conn., July 16, 1896. 

6 KINDNESS 

Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 

"lis only noble to be good; 
Kind hearts are more than coronets 

And simple faith than Norman blood. 
— Tennyson 

Read: Selections from Tennyson's poems. 

Sing: " Sweet and Low," from Songs Every One 
Should Know; "The Bugle Song," from Hanson's Gems 
of Song. 

Birthdays: Alfred Lord Tennyson, a famous English 
poet, born at Somersby, Lincolnshire, England, August 6, 
1809; died at Aldworth House, near Haslemere, Surrey, 
England, October 6, 1892. 

Jenny Lind, a famous Swedish singer, born in Stock- 
holm, Sweden, October 6, 1821 ; died November 2, 1887. 

George Westinghouse, an American inventor and manu- 
facturer, born at Central Bridge, Schoharie Co., N. Y., 
October 6, 1846 ; died in Pittsburgh, Pa., March 12, 1914. 

7 HEALTH DAY 

You hear that boy laughing? You think he's all fun, 

But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done; 

The children laugh loud as they troop to his call, 

And the poor man that knows him laughs loudest of all. 

— 0. W. Holmes 

A HEALTH CEEED 

[For daily recitation] 

To be well I must keep my body, my clothes and my 
house clean. 



36 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

I must have plenty of fresh air and of sunshine. 

I must eat good food and chew it slowly and brush my 
teeth often. 

I should drink plenty of water. 

I must sit straight and stand straight, so as to breathe 
deep and grow up straight and strong. 

Early to bed and a long night's sleep will rest my mind 
and body and keep me from being nervous. 

— Alice G. Ryan 

Birthday: Oliver Wendell Holmes, a noted American 
author, born in Cambridge, Mass., August 29, 1809; died 
in Boston, Mass., October 7, 1894. 

8 GOOD DEEDS 

The words which thou hast uttered, 

Are of thy soul a part. 
And the good seed thou hast scattered 

Is springing from the heart. 

— Whittier 

KINDNESS RETURNED 

One day a lady who was riding in a stagecoach saw a lad 
on the road barefoot and seemingly very footsore. She 
asked the coachman to take him up, and said she would 
pay for him. When the coach reached the end of its jour- 
ney, the kind lady found that the poor lad was bound for 
the nearest seaport, to offer himself as a sailor. 

Twenty years afterwards, on the same road, a sea cap- 
tain, riding on a stagecoach, saw an old lady walking 
wearily along, and he asked the coachman to pull up his 
horses. He then put the old lady inside the coach, saying, 
"I'll pay for her." When they next changed horses, the 
old lady thanked the captain, saying, ' ' I am too poor to pay 
for a ride now. ,, 

The captain told her that he always felt for those who 
had to walk, as she had been doing, and added, ' ' I remem- 



OCTOBER 37 

ber, twenty years ago, near this very place, I was a poor 
lad walking along the road, and a kind lady paid for me 
to ride." 

"Ah!" said she, "I am that lady; but things have 
changed with me since then. ' ' 

"Well," said the captain, "I have made a fortune, and 
have come home to enjoy it. I will allow you twenty-five 
pounds a year as long as you live." The old lady burst 
into tears, as she gratefully accepted the sailor's offer. 

— White's School Management 

Head : "The Knights and the Good Child, ' ' from Bake- 
well's True Fairy Stories. 

Birthdays: Rembrandt [Van Ryn], a famous Dutch 
painter, born in Leyden, Netherlands, July 15, 1607; died 
in Amsterdam, Netherlands, October 8, 1669. 

Edmund Clarence Stedman, an American poet and critic, 
born in Hartford, Conn., October 8, 1833; died at New 
York City, January 18, 1908. 

John Hay, an American author and diplomatist, born 
at Salem, 111., October 8, 1839; died at Newburg, N. H., 
July 1, 1905. 

9 HAPPINESS 

The sweetest bird builds near the ground, 
The loveliest flowers spring low, 
And we must stoop for happiness 
If we its worth would know. 

— Swain 

Read: "The Miller of the Dee," from Baldwin's Fifty 
Famous Stories. 

Sing: "Come with Thy Lute," from Kellogg 's Best 
Primary Songs. 

Birthdays: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, a noted 
Spanish writer, born at Alcala de Henares, Spain, October 
9, 1547 ; died April 23, 1616, on the same day with Shakes- 
peare. Author of Don Quixote. 



38 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Guiseppe Verdi, an Italian writer of music, born in the 
duchy of Parma, Italy, October 9 1814; died in Milan, 
Italy, January 26, 1901. 

Leonard Wood, an American soldier, born at Winchester, 
N. H., October 9, I860; at present, chief of staff of the 
army, living at Washington, D. C. 

Harriet G. Hosmer, an American sculptor, born in 
Watertown, Mass., October 9, 1830. 

10 CONSCIENCE 

Do what conscience says is right; 

Do what reason says is best; 
Do with all your mind and might; 

Do your duty and be blest. 

LINCOLN'S CONSCIENTIOUSNESS 

Abraham Lincoln held the office of postmaster at New 
Salem, Illinois, for three years. Several years later when 
he was a practicing lawyer, an agent called upon him, and 
asked for a balance of seventeen dollars due the govern- 
ment. Lincoln arose and opening a little trunk which lay 
in a corner of the room, took out from it a cotton rag in 
which was tied up the exact sum required. "I never use 
any man's money, but my own," he quietly remarked. 

When we consider the poverty of those years, we can 
appreciate the self-denial that had kept him from making 
even a temporary use of that government money. 

Sing: "Woodman, Spare That Tree," from Songs 
Every One Should Know. 

Birthdays: George P. Morris, a noted American song 
writer, born in Philadelphia, Pa., October 10, 1802 ; died in 
New York City, July 6, 1864. Author of "Woodman, 
Spare That Tree," "My Mother's Bible," etc. 

Mihaly Munkacsy, a Hungarian painter, born at Mun- 
kacs, Hungary, October 10, 1846; died in Bonn, Germany, 
May 1, 1900. 



OCTOBER 39 

11 GOOD MANNERS 

Good boys and girls should never say, 
"I will," and "Give me these." 
Oh, no, that never is the way, 
But "Mother, if you please." 

THE DRUM AND THE VASE OF SWEET HERBS 

A drum was once boasting to a vase of sweet herbs in 
this way: "Listen to me! My voice is loud and can be 
heard far off. I stir the hearts of men so that when they 
hear my bold roaring they march out bravely to battle." 

The vase spoke no words, but gave out a fine, sweet per- 
fume that filled the air, and seemed to say: I cannot 
speak, and it is not well to be proud, but I am full of good 
things that are hidden within me, and that gladly come 
forth to give cheer and comfort. But you, you have noth- 
ing in you but noise, and you must be struck to make you 
give that out. I would not boast if I were you. 

— &sop 

Read: " Please/ ' by Alicia Aspinwall, in Can You 
Believe Me Stories. 

Sing: "Kind Words," from Kellogg -s Best Primary 
Songs. 

12 COLUMBUS OR DISCOVERY DAY 

Endurance is the crowning quality, 
And patience all the passion of great hearts. 
— From "Columbus," by Lowell 

A LESSON IN COURAGE AND PERSEVERANCE 

Washington Irving in his Life of Columbus relates the 
following incident, which illustrates but one of the many 
great disappointments of the navigator. 

While Columbus, his pilot, and several of his experienced 
mariners were studying the map, and endeavoring to make 



40 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

out from it their actual position, they heard a shout from 
the Pinta, and looking up, beheld Martin Alonzo Pinzon 
mounted on the stern of his vessel crying, "Land! land! 
Senor, I claim my reward ! ' ' He pointed at the same time 
to the southwest, where there was indeed an appearance of 
land at about twenty-five leagues' distance. 

Upon this Columbus threw himself on his knees and 
returned thanks to God; and Martin Alonzo repeated the 
Gloria in excelsis, in which he was joined by his own crew 
and that of the admiral. The seamen now mounted to 
the masthead or climbed about the rigging, straining their 
eyes in the direction pointed out. The morning light, how- 
ever, put an end to all their hopes, as to a dream. The 
fancied land proved to be nothing but an evening cloud, 
and had vanished in the night. 

It is not certain, however, that the disappointments of 
to-day will not give place to realized hope to-morrow. 
Columbus was not discouraged ; in fact nothing could turn 
him back, and hope had its final reward. 

Read: James Russell Lowell's " Columbus/ ' and 
Joaquin Miller's "Columbus." 

Sing: "Columbus," from Songs in Season. 

Birthdays : Christopher Columbus, the discoverer of the 
New World, born in or near Genoa, Italy, about 1446 ; died 
in Vallodolid, Spain, May 20, 1506. 

Josiah G. Holland, an American writer, born in Belcher- 
town, Mass., July 24, 1819 ; died in New York City, October 
12, 1881. 

Dinah Maria Mulock Craik [Miss Mulock], an English 
writer of novels and stories, born in Stoke-upon-Trent, 
England, in 1826; died at Shortlands, Kent, England, 
October 12, 1887. 

Special Days : Anniversary of the discovery of America 
[Columbus Day]. Arbor Day in North Carolina. (See 
Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 



OCTOBER 41 

13 OPPOETUNITY 

Do not cry and weep for chances, 

Chances that have passed away, 
Opportunities neglected — 

Grasp the chance you have to-day. 

— Selected 

Read : * ' Day, ' ' by Kichards, from The Golden Windows. 
Sing: "The Jolly Workers/' from Kellogg 's Best Pri- 
mary Songs. 

14 JUSTICE 

If those who've wronged us own their faults and kindly pity pray, 
When shall we listen and forgive? To-day, my love, to-day. 
But if stern justice urge rebuke, and warmth from memory borrow, 
When shall we chide if chide we must? To-morrow, love, to-morrow. 

WILLIAM PENN AND THE INDIANS 

Some of the early settlers of this country bargained with 
the Indians that for each fish-hook given, they were to give 
as much land as a bullock's hide would cover. But the 
settlers cut the hide into thin strips, and made it cover 
a large area. William Penn, when he first came to America, 
to Pennsylvania, bargained with the Indians that he would 
give a certain number of articles for as much land as a man 
could walk around in a certain time. The man covered 
so much more land than the Indians believed he would, 
that they became dissatisfied and threatening. But Penn 
said to them, "You agreed to this way of measuring." 
His companions wished to force the carrying out of this 
argument. But Penn replied that that would be wrong 
toward these simple children of the prairie; he asked them 
what they thought would be right, and they simply 
demanded a few more rolls of cloth, to which Penn agreed. 
Not only was war averted, but the Indians were pleased 



42 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

with the fair and just spirit shown by the strangers, and 
became their friends. — Popular Educator 

Read: Bible, Matt. 5:38-48. 

Birthday: William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, 
born in London, England, October 14, 1644; died at Rus- 
combe, Berkshire, England, July 30, 1718. 

15 A SCHOOLROOM LESSON 

If you've any task to do, 
Let me whisper, friend, to you, 
Do it. 

TURNING ABOUT 

BY MARY J. MYERS 

'Tis tempting sore, there is no doubt, 
While at your desk, to turn about. 
Your eyes you turn, your nose you point, 
Your neck is sadly out of joint. 

While turning round to look behind, 
You miss what is before, you 11 find, 
And what's before is much worth while, 
And looking forward's better style. 

How very strange it all would be 
If eyes were placed behind to see, 
While mouth and chin and also toes 
Were pointing forward with your nose. 

So forward turn and danger spare, 
And of your eyes and neck take care, 
Lest kink in neck or eye refrain 
From ever turning straight again. 

Sing: "Opening Song," from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 



OCTOBER 43 

16 WATCH YOUR WORDS 

Keep a watch on your words, my darling, 

For words are wonderful things; 
They are sweet like the bees' fresh honey — 

Like the bees they have terrible stings; 
They can bless like the warm, glad sunshine, 

And brighten a lonely life, 
They can cut, in the strife of anger, 

Like an open, two-edged knife. 

—Mrs. E. R. Miller 

Birthdays: Noah Webster, an American author, born 
in Hartford, Conn., October 16, 1758 ; died in New Haven, 
Conn., May 28, 1843. 

Horace E. Scudder, an American writer, born in Boston, 
Mass., October 16, 1838 ; died in Cambridge, Mass., January 
11, 1902. 



17 OBEDIENCE 

He who has learned to obey, will know how to command. 

— Solon 

A LESSON IN OBEDIENCE 

One day General Washington, sending a dispatch, 
directed the bearer to cross the river at a certain ferry, 
and go through the Ramapo Pass to Morristown. The 
young man, knowing that a nest of traitors infested the 
pass, ventured to suggest to the Commander-in-chief that 
another road would be safer. "I shall be taken/ ' he said, 
1 'if I go through the pass." " Young man, your duty is 
not to talk, but to obey/' said Washington, sternly. He 
went as directed, and near the pass was captured, as he 
was afraid of being, and sent to New York, then in the 
hands of the enemy. The next day, the dispatches taken 
from him, disclosing a plan of attacking the city, were 
published with great parade, and the English immediately 
began preparations to defend it. 

This gave Washington time to plan and execute another 



44 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

movement in quite a different direction, and by that time 
both the British and the bearer found out that the dispatch 
was meant to be taken. 

Read: "Bessie's Garden/' from Whittier's Child Life 
in Prose; ' ' Casabianca, ' ' from Baldwin's Fifty Famous 
Stories Retold; Bible, Prov. 3 : 1-7. 

Sing: "How Happy is the Child," from Kellogg 's Best 
Primary Songs. 

18 PATIENCE 

One day at a time. It's a wholesome rhyme; 
A good one to live by, a day at a time. 

— Helen Hunt Jackson 

Read: "October's Bright Blue Weather," by Helen 
Hunt Jackson; also sketch of her life, from October Pri- 
mary Plan Book. 

Sing: "There's Music in the Air," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: Helen Hunt Jackson, an American writer, 
born at Amherst, Mass., October 18, 1831; died in San 
Francisco, Cal., August 12, 1885. 

Thomas B. Reed, an American statesman, born in Port- 
land, Me., October 18, 1839; died in Washington, D. C, 
September 7, 1902. 

19 DEVOTION TO DUTY 

Heaven is not reached at a single bound, 
But we build the ladder by which we rise 
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, 

And we mount to its summit round by round. 

— Holland 

THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY 

Once while in camp Napoleon Bonaparte stayed in a 
building with some soldiers, among whom he observed a 
little drummer boy, not yet twelve years of age. Calling 



OCTOBER 45 

the boy to him, the great Emperor asked, "My little man, 
what are you doing here ? ' ' 

"I belong to the army, sire," replied the boy. 

"What do you do in the army?" asked Napoleon. 

* ' I am a drummer, sire, ' ' was the reply. 

"Fetch your drum," said Napoleon. The drum was 
fetched and Napoleon said : ' ' Sound the ' general ' for me. ' ' 
Promptly the "general" was sounded by the little drum- 
mer, and the Emperor exclaimed, "Good! now, beat the 
'march;' " and the boy obeyed. "Now, sound the 
'advance,' " said Bonaparte, and with sparkling eyes the 
little Drummer sounded the "advance" in a firm, even 
measure. "Good!" exclaimed the Emperor, "Now for the 
'charge'!" and with eyes flashing fire the little soldier 
beat the "charge" till the very rafters trembled from the 
vibrations of the wild, fierce notes. "Bravo!" cried 
Napoleon, "now beat for me the 'retreat.' " Down went 
the sticks. The little fellow straightened up and with a 
flush of manly pride, he said, "You must excuse me, sire, 
I never learned that. Our regiment never retreated. " The 
great commander excused him, and it is said that even on 
St. Helena he often spoke of his little drummer boy who 
could not beat a "retreat." 

Birthday: Edward Winslow, governor of Plymouth 
colony, born at Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, Octo- 
ber 19, 1595 ; died at sea, May 8, 1655. 

20 HUMILITY 

Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much, 
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more. 

— Cowper 

SELF-PRAISE 

A man once walked along the banks of the mighty 
Euphrates River. Its waters moved softly and silently 



46 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

along. "Why do not thy waters surge and roar?" asked 
the man. And the river replied : "I need not shout aloud ; 
my name is known widely enough. The green meadows 
which I water and the lofty trees upon my banks — these 
tell who I am." 

The man came afterward to the banks of the Tigris 
Kiver. Its waves dashed along wildly and with clouds of 
foam. "Hello, how loud you are shouting!" said the man. 
"Ah," said the river, "my shouting does not help me at 
all! I still am not praised like other streams, however 
loudly I proclaim that I am something in the world." 

The man went further. He saw trees with the costliest 
and most beautiful fruit. They offered their fruits with- 
out a sound. ' ' Why so still, good trees ? " he asked. ' ' Why 
not rustle like your companions in the wood?" "We are 
known," they replied, "by the fruit we bear, however 
silent we are." Soon the man came to a wood whose trees 
towered to the skies, and whose empty crests kept up a 
constant roar. l ' Why do you make such a noise ? " he 
asked. "Ah," they replied, "we have shouted loud and 
long, and yet we are not treated as we deserve." 

"Now I know," said the man, "who praises himself 
amounts to nothing. The truly meritorious require no self- 
praise. That truth I will not forget." 

— Jewish Messenger 

Read: "The Fantail Pigeon," from Poulsson's In the 
Child's World. 

Sing: "Don't Talk When YouVe Nothing to Say," 
from American School Songs. 

Birthdays : Henry Inman, an American painter, born in 
Utica, N. Y., October 20, 1801 ; died in New York City, 
January 17, 1846. 

Thomas Hughes, an English author, born in Uffington, 
Berkshire, England, October 20, 1823; died March 22, 
1896. 



OCTOBER 47 

21 MUSIC IN ALL THINGS 

There's music in the sighing of a reed; 
There's music in the gushing of a rill; 
There's music in all things, if men had ears: 
This earth is but an echo of the spheres. 

— Byron 

"AMERICA" 

This most popular and best loved of all our national 
songs was written by Dr. Samuel F. Smith. One of Dr. 
Smith's best friends was Lowell Mason, the eminent musi- 
cian. A German friend had given to Mr. Mason a number 
of German music books. Being unable to read German, 
Mr. Mason carried the books to Dr. Smith and asked him 
to translate some of the songs for him. What followed we 
will let Dr. Smith relate. He says: "Turning over the 
leaves of one of these books one day in February, 1832, 
I came across the air 'God Save the King.' I liked the 
music. I glanced at the German words at the foot of the 
page. Under the inspiration of the moment I went to 
work and in half an hour ' America' was the result. It was 
written on a scrap of paper I picked up from the table, and 
the hymn of to-day is substantially as it was written that 
day." 

This hymn was first sung at a children's Fourth of July 
celebration in Park Street Church, Boston. It did not 
have great popularity until the Civil "War. Since then it 
has become the best known of any of our national songs. 

An incident in connection with the singing of "Amer- 
ica," on one particular occasion, may be related here with 
profit. Not many years ago there was gathered in a United 
States consulate in a foreign land a few score Americans. 
It was the Fourth of July and the little band seemed par- 
ticularly impressed with the significance of the day and 
the occasion. One member of the party suggested that they 
sing "America." He began the song, all sang the first 



48 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

stanza, a few sang the second, four voices blended together 
to the end of the third, and a single voice continued to the 
end. Only one person of all those gathered together knew 
his national song to the end. Is not this a lesson to us ? 

Sing : ' ' America. ' ' 

Birthdays: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, a noted English 
poet, born at Ottery Saint Mary, Devonshire, England, 
October 21, 1772 ; died in London, July 25, 1834. 

Will Carleton, an American poet, born at Hudson, Mich., 
October 21, 1845. Editor of Everywhere. 

Samuel F. Smith, an American clergyman, born in Bos- 
ton, Mass., October 21, 1808 ; died in Boston, November 16, 
18&5. Author of song " America.' ' 

22 EVIL SPEAKING 

Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds; 
You can't do that way when you're flying words. 
"Careful with fire," is good advice, we know; 
"Careful with words," is ten times doubly so. 
Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead; 
But God himself can't kill them when they're said. 

— Will Carleton 

THE SLANDERER 

A lady visited Sir Philip Neri on one occasion, accusing 
herself of being a slanderer. 

"Do you frequently fall into this fault ?" he inquired. 

"Yes, very often," replied the penitent. 

"My dear child," said Philip, "your fault is great, but 
the mercy of God is greater. I now bid thee do as follows : 
Go to the nearest market and purchase a chicken just killed 
and still covered with feathers ; then walk to a certain dis- 
tance, plucking the bird as you go. Your walk finished, 
return to me." 

The woman did as directed and returned, anxious to 
know the meaning of so singular an injunction. 



OCTOBER 49 

"You have been very faithful to the first part of my 
orders," said Philip; ''now do the second part, and you 
will be cured. Retrace your steps, pass through all the 
places you have traversed, and gather up one by one all 
the feathers you have scattered." 

"But," said the woman, "I cast the feathers carelessly 
away, and the wind carried them in all directions. ' ' 

"Well, my child," replied Philip, "so it is with your 
words of slander. Like the feathers which the wind has 
scattered, they have been wafted in many directions: call 
them back now if you can. Go, sin no more." 

Birthdays: Franz Liszt, a famous Hungarian pianist 
and composer of music, born at Raiding, October 22, 1811 ; 
died at Bayreuth, Bavaria, July 31, 1886. 

Sarah Bernhardt, a celebrated French actress, born in 
Paris, France, October 22, 1844. (Her real name is Rosine 
Bernard.) 

23 BEAUTIFUL THINGS 

Beautiful faces are they that wear 
The light of a pleasant spirit there; 
It matters little if dark or fair. 

Beautiful hands are they that do 
Deeds that are noble, good and true; 
Busy with them the long day through. 

Beautiful feet are they that go 

Swiftly to lighten another's woe, 

Through the summer's heat or winter's snow. 

Beautiful children, if, rich or poor, 
They walk the pathways sweet and pure 
That lead to the mansion strong and sure. 

—Mrs. E. B. Miller 

Sing: "Away with Melancholy," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthday: Francis Hopkinson Smith, an American 



50 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

author, painter and civil engineer, born in Baltimore, Md., 
October 23, 1838 ; lives in New York City. 

24 PUKPOSE 

I live for those who love me, 

Whose hearts are fond and true. 

For the heaven that smiles above me, 
And awaits my spirit too; 

For all human ties that bind me, 

For the task by God assigned me, 

For the bright hopes left behind me, 
And the good that I can do. 

— G. L. Banks 



THE TWO ROADS 

BY JEAN PAUL RICHTER 

It was New Year's night. An aged man was standing 
at a window. He raised his mournful eyes toward the deep 
blue sky, where the stars were floating, like white lilies, on 
the surface of a clear, calm lake. Then he cast them down 
hopelessly on the earth. 

Already he had passed sixty years of life, and he had 
brought from his journey nothing but errors and remorse. 
His health was destroyed, his mind vacant, his heart sor- 
rowful, and his old age devoid of comfort. 

The days of his youth rose up, in a vision, before him, 
and he recalled the solemn moment, when his father had 
placed him at the entrance of two roads, — one leading into 
a peaceful, sunny land, covered with a fertile harvest, and 
resounding with soft, sweet songs; while the other con- 
ducted the wanderer into a deep, dark cave, whence there 
was no issue, where poison flowed, instead of water, and 
where serpents hissed and crawled. 

He looked toward the sky, and cried out in his agony: 
"0 youth, return! my father, place me once more at 
the entrance to life, that I may choose the better way!" 



OCTOBER 51 

But the days of his youth and his father had both passed 
away. 

Ye who still linger on the threshold of life, doubting 
which path to choose, remember that when years are passed, 
and your feet stumble on the dark mountain, you will 
cry bitterly, but cry in vain: "0 youth return! 0, give 
me back my early days!" — Adapted 

25 HONESTY 

Thou must be true thyself, 
If thou the truth wouldst teach; 
Thy soul must overflow, if thou 
Another's soul wouldst reach! 
It needs the overflow of heart 
To give the lips full speech. 

Think truly, and thy thoughts 
Shall the world's famine feed; 
Speak truly, and each word of thine 
Shall be a fruitful seed; 
Live truly, and thy life shall be 
A great and noble creed. 

— Horatius Bonar 

Read: "The Honest Woodman," from Boston Collec- 
tion of Kindergarten Stories; Bible, Prov. 22 : 1 ; Eccl. 7:1. 

Sing: "Home, Sweet Home," from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 

Birthdays: Geoffrey Chaucer, a famous English poet, 
born in London, England, about 1328 ; died in London, 
October 25, 1400. Author of the Canterbury Tales. 

Thomas Babington Macaulay, a famous English historian, 
born in Leicestershire, England, October 25, 1800; died at 
Holly Lodge, Campden Hill, England, December 28, 1859. 

26 THE RED CROSS 

God be thanked that the dead have left still 
Good undone for the living to do. 

— Owen Meredith 



52 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

THE STORY OF THE RED CROSS FLAG 

On Christmas Day, 1822, Clara Barton was born. As a 
child Miss Barton was painfully shy in the presence of 
strangers, so her parents finally decided to send her to 
boarding school, thus hoping to overcome this sensitiveness. 
Here her suffering was so acute that she was finally brought 
back home. What was to be done with her ? The question 
solved itself. Her beloved brother David fell ill ; the baby 
sister became his nurse, taking all the responsibility of his 
care upon herself; for two years she devoted herself to 
him. She thus forgot herself, and in a great measure con- 
quered the shyness, which had made life a burden. 

Next Miss Barton was a teacher, and then she became a 
clerk in the Patent Office in Washington. Soon began to 
be heard the rumblings of war, and then the rumbling 
became a mighty thundering and the Civil War was on. A 
regiment from Clara Barton's old home in Massachusetts 
was passing through Washington. Without consulting any- 
one, Clara Barton joined it, and so began her labor of love 
as an army nurse. Her clear insight, strong will, ability 
to do and direct work made her invaluable to the regiment. 
She became the natural leader in the work of relief. For 
four years Miss Barton followed the vicissitudes of a ter- 
rible warfare. 

The Civil War closed, the army was disbanded, the 
soldiers went home. Not so Clara Barton ; her work was 
not yet ended. Four additional years were given to organ- 
izing and carrying on a work of identifying the dead and 
delivering the messages of the dead and dying. Many a 
mother had cause to bless the name of Clara Barton, who 
sought her out to deliver the dying message of a beloved 
son. 

Then came the Franco-Prussian war. All Europe was 
stirred. Clara Barton was visited by a band of people who 
were going to the center of the battle to help care for the 



OCTOBER 53 

sufferers. These people were organized for the work and 
had an organization behind them — it was the International 
Red Cross of Geneva. The object in having such an organ- 
ization was that it should be recognized and respected on 
any battlefield anywhere. It was called the Red Cross — 
their emblem or flag was a Greek Cross in red on a white 
field. Thirty-one governments had signed this treaty; the 
United States had not. Clara Barton went to Europe, she 
nursed the soldiers through the Franco-Prussian war. She 
returned home. She realized that wherever there was war 
in the future that there the Red Cross must be found ; she 
knew that the Red Cross was a benefit to humanity. She 
felt that the United States must sign this convention. 

She determined to work to bring this about. She sought 
the officials at Washington, and told them the benefits to be 
derived from the Red Cross; she told them its history on 
these European battlefields ; she was so earnest in her desire 
to aid her country that she won her cause. In the year 
1882 the United States ratified this convention, and so we 
secured the protection of the Red Cross. Clara Barton was 
made the first president of the American National Red Cross 
Society. She made an able commander. She went, or sent 
relief corps and provisions to the Johnstown Flood, Russian 
Famine, South Carolina Tidal Wave, Armenian Massacre, 
and the Spanish- American war. Miss Barton died in 1912, 
at the age of ninety years. 

Read: "The Red Cross," from Baldwin's American 
Book of Golden Deeds; "St. Elizabeth and the Sick Child," 
from Wiltse's Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks; 
Bible, Matt. 5:6; Matt. 20 : 26-27. 

Sing: "Flow Gently, Sweet Afton," from Hanson's 
Gems of Song. 

Special Day: Anniversary of the origin of the Red 
Cross Society; emblem: red cross. Clara Barton was the 
founder of the Red Cross Society in America. 



54 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

27 PERSEVERANCE 

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried 
to succeed. — Theodore Roosevelt 

ROBERT BRUCE AND THE SPIDER 

It was the perseverance of the spider that taught King 
Robert Bruce of Scotland the lesson that gained the victory 
at Bannockburn, the battle that made Scotland free. The 
King was out in a barn one day reconnoitering the army. 
While there reclining on the straw he saw a spider climb- 
ing up one of the rafters. The insect fell, but immediately 
made a second attempt. Again it fell, and so on for twelve 
times, but on the thirteenth attempt succeeded. The King, 
taking new courage from the example of the spider, rose 
up and exclaimed: "Have I not been twelve times 
defeated by the superior force of the enemy ? On one fight 
more hangs the independence of my country." It was 
only a few days more until he gained the great victory 
over Edward the third in the battle of Bannockburn. 

Read: "The Crow and the Pitcher,' ' from Wiltse's 
Kindergarten Stories and Morning Talks. 

Sing: "Try, Try Again," from Songs Every One 
Should Know. 

Birthdays: James Cook, an English navigator, born at 
Marton, Yorkshire, England, October 27, 1728 ; died Febru- 
ary 14, 1779. 

Joseph Emerson Worcester, an American author, born 
in Bedford, N. H., August 24, 1784; died in Cambridge, 
Mass., October 27, 1865. Chiefly famous for his A Dic- 
tionary of the English Language. 

Whitelaw Reid, an American journalist and diplomatist, 
born near Xenia, Ohio, October 27, 1837. 

Theodore Roosevelt, twenty-sixth president of the United 
States, born in New York, October 27, 1858 ; lives in Oyster 
Bay, Long Island, N. Y. 



OCTOBER 

28 BUILDERS 

Little builders, build away! 
Little builders, build to-day! 
Build a temple pure and bright, 
Build it up in deeds of light; 
Lay the corner strong and deep, 
Where the heart the truth shall keep; 
Lay it with a builder's care, 
For the temple resteth there. 

If you want an honored name, 
If you want a spotless fame, 
Let your words be kind and pure, 
And your temple shall endure; 
Wisdom standeth at the door; 
Come and see her priceless store; 
Virtue gently guides your feet, 
Where the good and holy meet. 

— Selected 



55 



Read : Bible, Mark 10 : 43-44. 

Sing : ' ' The Fountain, ' ' from Songs Every One Should 
Know. 

Birthday: Anna Elizabeth Dickinson, an American lec- 
turer and author, born in Philadelphia, Pa., October 28, 
1842 ; lives in New York. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Indiana (last Friday in 
October). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 



29 HAPPINESS 

Laugh, and the world laughs with you; 

Weep, and you weep alone; 
For this brave old earth must borrow its mirth; 

It has trouble enough of its own. 

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

Birthday: John Keats, a noted English poet, born in 
London, England, October 29, 1795; died at Rome, Italy, 
February 27, 1821. 



56 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

30 INDUSTRY 

How doth the little busy bee 

Improve each shining hour, 
And gather honey all the day 

From every opening flower? 

— Isaac Watts 

THE GRASSHOPPER AND THE BEE 

A grasshopper, cold and hungry, came to a well-stored 
beehive and humbly begged the bees for a few drops of 
honey. 

One of the bees asked him how he had spent his time 
all the summer, and why he had not laid up a store of food 
for the winter. 

"Truly," said he, "I spent my time very merrily in 
drinking, and dancing, and singing, and never thought 
about the winter. ' ' 

"Our plan is very different," said the bee. "We work 
hard in summer, to lay by a store of food against the season 
when we foresee that we shall need it; but those who do 
nothing but dance and sing during the summer, must 
expect to starve in winter." 

This fable teaches that if we spend our time in idleness 
we shall surely come to want. Sloth makes all things diffi- 
cult, but industry makes all things easy. 

Read: "The Ant and the Cricket," from Baldwin's 
Fairy Stories and Fables; "The Beaver Story," from 
Bake well's True Fairy Stories. 

Sing: "The Secret of Success," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: John Adams, second president of the 
United States, born in Braintree, Mass., October 30, 1735 ; 
died at Quincy, Mass., July 4, 1826, his son then being the 
president. 

Adelaide A. Proctor, British poet, born October 30, 1825 ; 
died, 1864. 



OCTOBER 57 

31 HALLOWE'EN 

Up the airy mountain, 

Down the rushy glen, 
We daren't go a-hunting, 

For fear of little men; 
Wee folk, good folk, 

Trooping all together; 
Green jacket, red cap, 

And white owl's feather! 

— Wm. Allingham 

ALL-HALLOW-EVEN [HALLOWE'EN] 
The Eve of All Saints' Day 

All-hallow-eve (or Even) is known in some places as 
Nutcrack Night, or Snapapple Night. It is now usually 
celebrated by children's parties, when certain special games 
are played. In the country towns it is also a time of care- 
less frolic, and of great bonfires. 

The custom of keeping the night has come to us from the 
Celts. The early inhabitants of Great Britain, Ireland, and 
parts of France were known as Celts, and their religion 
was directed by strange priests called Druids. Three times 
in the year, on the first of May, for the sowing; at the 
solstice, June 21st, for the ripening and turn of the year; 
and on the eve of November 1st, for the harvesting, those 
mysterious priests of the Celts, the Druids, built fires on 
the hill-tops in France, Britain, and Ireland in honor of 
the sun. This last festival was made a very solemn cere- 
mony, the Druids of all the region gathering in their white 
robes around the stone altar or cairn on the hill-top. On 
the sacred cairn — which was a large mound of stones — was 
a sacred fire, which had been kept burning through the 
year. The Druids gathered around the fire, and, at a 
signal, quenched it. Presently a new fire was kindled on 
the cairn, and as it gleamed in the darkness, the people in 
the valley raised a great shout and other fires from sur- 



58 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

rounding hill-tops answered the sacred flame. Then the 
people were satisfied, for they believed everything was safe 
for another year. 

"When the Celts were converted to the Christian religion, 
the harvest festival of the Druids became in the Catholic 
Calendar the Eve of All Saints, for that is the meaning 
of the name "All-hallow Eve." The custom of playing 
pranks on Hallowe'en came from the old idea that this is 
"witches' night," and that all the strange and wild powers 
of the air are abroad to do mischief, but just when and 
where the thought arose, no one seems to know. 

Read: "Tamlane," from Jacobs' More English Fairy 
Tales. 

Sing : ' ' The Brownies, ' ' from Songs in Season. 

Birthday : David Graham Phillips, an American author, 
born in Madison, Ind., October 31, 1867 ; died January 24, 
1911. 

Special Day : Hallowe 'en. 



NOVEMBER 



1 TRUST 

The leaves are fading and falling, 

The winds are rough and wild; 
The birds have ceased their calling, 

But let me tell you, my child, 

Though day by day, as it closes, 

Doth darker and colder grow, 
The roots of the bright red roses 

Will keep alive in the snow. 

— Alice Cary 

Birthday: Antonio Canova, a famous Italian sculptor, 
born at Possagno, Italy, November 1, 1757 ; died in Venice, 
October 13, 1822. 

2 GENEROSITY 

The truly generous is the truly wise; 
And he who loves not others, lives unblest. 

— Horace 

A WAIF'S VIEW OF WEALTH 

A little street waif was once at the house of a great 
lady, and the childish eyes that had to look so sharply after 
daily bread were dazzled by signs of splendor on every 
hand. "Can you get everything you want?" the child 
asked the mistress of the mansion. "Yes, I think so," was 
the reply. "Can you buy anything you'd like to have?" 
The lady answered, "Yes." And the child, who was of a 
meditative turn of mind, looked at her half pityingly, and 
said, wonderingly, "Don't you find it dull?" To the little 
keen mind, accustomed to live bird-like from day to day, 



60 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

and to rejoice over a little supply with the delight born of 
rarity, the aspect of continual plenty, and desires all grati- 
fied by possession, contained an idea of monotony that 
seemed almost wearisome. Many an owner of a well-filled 
purse has found life "dull," and pronounced in the midst 
of luxury that all things are vanity; but the hand that 
knows how wisely to distribute and scatter abroad the 
bounty possessed will never be without interest in life — 
will never miss the sunshine that abides for kind and 
unselfish hearts. — The Quiver 

Read: "The Elves and the Shoemaker,' ' by Grimm; 
"Doctor Goldsmith," in Baldwin's Fifty Famous Stories; 
Bible, Psalm 23. 

Sing : ' ' Help to Set the World Rejoicing, ' ' from Uncle 
Sam's School Songs. 

Birthday: James K. Polk, eleventh president of the 
United States, born in Mecklenberg County, N. C, Novem- 
ber 2, 1795 ; died in NashviUe, Tenn., June 15, 1849. 

3 THE VALUE OF THINGS 

Loveliest of lovely things are they 
On earth that soonest pass away. 
The rose that lives its little hour 
Is prized beyond the sculptured flower. 

— Bryant 

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 

To-day is the birthday of William Cullen Bryant, the 
"poet of nature." He was born in Cummington, Mass. It 
was soon discovered that the little fellow was very preco- 
cious and the parents gave up all hope of his life. But his 
father being a physician of considerable skill, decided to 
put William through a severe treatment in order to save 
his life. So each morning for a long time, summer and 



NOVEMBER 61 

winter, the father took his son down to the spring behind 
the barn and dipped him several times in the cold water. 
This heroic treatment perhaps saved the child and gave 
to the world one of its best poets. 

Bryant wrote poetry at the age of eight years. In his 
thirteenth year he wrote a satire on President Jefferson's 
embargo on American shipping under the title "The Em- 
bargo ; or Sketches of the Times. ' ' In his eighteenth year, 
his best poem, ' * Thanatopsis, ' ' was written. Bryant was 
essentially a poet of nature, his verse overflowing with what 
Wordsworth terms "religion of the woods." After a long 
and useful life, he died in the ' ' month of roses, ' ' according 
to a wish he had often expressed. 

Read: Selections from Bryant's poems. 

Sing: "The Song of Nature," from Hanson's Gems of 
Song. 

Birthday: William Cullen Bryant, an American poet, 
born in Cummington, Mass., November 3, 1794; died in 
New York City, June 12, 1878. 

4 PROCRASTINATION 

There are no fragments so precious as those of time, 
and none so heedlessly lost by people who can not make 
a moment, and yet can waste years.— Montgomery 

Read: Emerson's "Days;" "What Broke the China 
Pitcher," from Howliston's Cat-Tails and Other Tales; 
Bible, Eccl. 3 : 1. 

Sing: "Rock of Ages." 

Birthdays: James Montgomery, a British poet, born in 
Ayrshire, Scotland, November 4, 1771 ; died near Sheffield, 
Scotland, April 30, 1854. 

Augustus M. Toplady, an English clergyman and author, 
born at Farnham, Surrey, England, November 4, 1740; 



62 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

died in London, August 11, 1778. Best known as the author 
of the hymn, "Rock of Ages." 



5 CIVIC DUTY 

The proudest now is but my peer, 

The highest not more high; 
To-day of all the weary year 

A king of men am I. 

To-day alike are great and small, 

The nameless and the known; 
My palace is the people's hall, 

The ballot-box my throne! 

— Whittier 

Special Day : Election or Voting Day (the first Tuesday 
after the first Monday in November). This day is now a 
holiday, so that every man may have an opportunity to cast 
his vote. What are the duties of a voter in a self-governing 
country ? 

1. To vote whenever it is his privilege. 

2. To try to understand the questions upon which he votes. 

3. To learn something about the character and fitness of the 
men for whom he votes. 

4. To vote only for honest men for office. 

5. To support only honest measures. 

6. To give no bribe, direct or indirect, and to receive no bribe 
direct or indirect. 

7. To place country above party. 

8. To recognize the result of the election as the will of the 
people and therefore as the law. 

9. To continue to vote for a righteous although defeated cause 
as long as there is reasonable hope of victory. — 8. E. Forman 



6 LOYALTY TO OUE COUNTRY 



Ye who love the Republic, remember the claim 
Ye owe to her fortune, ye owe to her fame, 
To her years of prosperity, past and in store, 
The hundreds behind you, the thousands before. 

— Eezekiah Butterworth 



NOVEMBER 63 

THE FLAG GOES BY 

BY HENRY H. BENNETT 

Hats off! 
Along the street there comes 
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, 
A flash of color beneath the sky. 

Hats off! 
The flag is passing by. 

Blue and crimson and white it shines 
Over the steel-tipped, ordered lines. 

Hats off! 
The colors before us fly; 
But more than the flag is passing by. 

Sea-fights and land-fights, grim and great, 
Fought to make and save the state ; 
Weary marches and sinking ships; 
Cheers of victory on dying lips; 

Days of plenty and years of peace ; 
March of a strong land's swift increase; 
Equal justice, right and law; 
Stately honor and reverent awe, 

Sign of a nation, great and strong 
To ward her people from foreign wrong, 
Pride and glory and honor, all 
Live in the colors to stand or fall. 

Hats off! 
Along the street there comes 
A blare of bugles, a ruffle of drums, 
And loyal hearts are beating high. 

Hats off! 
The flag is passing by! 



64 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Sing: "The Star-Spangled Banner;" play selections 
from Paderewski. 

Birthdays: Kate Greenaway, an English artist noted 
for her pictures of children and of child life, born in Lon- 
don, England, in 1846 ; died at London, November 6, 1901. 

Ignace Jan Paderewski, a Russian pianist, born in 
Podolie, Russian Poland, November 6, 1860. 

7 AMBITION 

The height of my ambition is only to find my place, 
though it were but a sweeper of chimneys. 

— Charles Kingsley 

Read: " Don't Give Up" and " Suppose," by Phoebe 
Cary; "The Two Foolish Birds," from Baldwin's Fairy 
Stories and Fables. 

8 NOBLE CONDUCT 

He prayeth well, who loveth well 
Both man and bird and beast. 
He prayeth best who loveth best 
All things both great and small, 
For the dear God who loveth us — 
He made and loveth all. 

— From "Ancient Mariner" by Coleridge 

HOW BABY ROBIN WAS SAVED 

Mother Robin had built her nest in the eaves of one 
of the very nicest apartment houses in Chicago. One day 
Father Robin had some business to attend away from home, 
so that Mother Robin was forced to go out into the world 
in search of food and to leave Master Robin alone in his 
eerie nursery. 

And sure enough the baby got into mischief. He wiggled 
his wings, and zip ! down he plunged toward the street. He 
hit the pavement square in the middle of one of the busiest 
motoring corners. A chauffeur stopped his big machine 



NOVEMBER 65 

abruptly. Other machines behind him halted, and soon a 
half hundred motor cars were tangled at the corner. 

Policemen came and tried to remove the cause of the con- 
gestion, but baby robin had just enough strength left in 
his wings to dodge. A policeman then called a small boy 
to his aid. That settled Master Robin's holiday. The boy 
nabbed him in a twinkling, and soon the little robin was 
back in his nest. 

9 THOBOUGHNESS 

Work while you work, play while you play; 
This is the way to be cheerful and gay. 
All that you do, do with your might; 
Things done by halves are never done right. 

One thing each time, and that done well, 
Is a very good rule, as many can tell; 
Moments are useless, trifled away; 
So work while you work, and play while you play. 

— Miss A. D. Stoddart 

10 TRUE WORTH 

Four things a man must learn to do, 
If he would make his calling true, — 
To think without confusion clearly, 
To love his fellow-men sincerely, 
To act from honest motives purely, 
To trust in God and heaven securely. 
— Henry Van Dyke 

TWO MEN OF WORTH 

In Switzerland, many years ago, a man called Frank 
went to his neighbor, William, who was working in his 
field, and said : ' ' Friend, I have received word that we are 
to go before the judges to-morrow, who will decide our 
dispute about the field, since we cannot agree ourselves. ' ' 

"You see," said William, "that I have mown this field 
and must get my hay in; I cannot leave it." 

"Well," said Frank, "I cannot send the judges away." 

They discussed the matter for some time. At length 



66 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

William said: "I will tell you how it shall be: you go to 
the judges and tell them your case and mine; then there 
will be no need for me to go." 

"Well," said the other, "if you will trust your cause 
with me, I will do so. " 

He accordingly went, pleaded the case, and lost. Return- 
ing to his neighbor, he said: "The field is yours. I con- 
gratulate you, neighbor. I am glad the affair is over." 

The two men were firm friends ever after. 

Bead: "The Farmer and His Sons," and "The Quar- 
rel, ' ' from Baldwin 's Fairy Stories and Fables. 

Sing: "Morning Song," from Kellogg 's Best Primary 
Songs. 

Birthdays: Martin Luther, the leader of the Reforma- 
tion in Germany, born at Eisleben, Germany, November 10, 
1483 ; died at Eisleben, February 18, 1546. 

Oliver Goldsmith, a famous English author, born in Pal- 
lasmore, Ireland, November 10, 1728 ; died in London, Eng- 
land, April 4, 1774. 

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, a famous Ger- 
man poet, born at Marbach, Wiirtemberg, November 10, 
1759 ; died at Weimar, May 9, 1805. 

Joaquin Miller, the pen-name of Cincinnatus Heine Mil- 
ler, an American author, born in Wabash District, Indiana, 
November 10, 1841. 

Henry Van Dyke, an American clergyman and author, 
born at Germantown, Pa., November 10, 1852; lives in 
Princeton, N. J. 

Winston Churchill, an American novelist, born in St. 
Louis, Mo., November 10, 1871 ; living at Cornish, N. H. 

11 HUMILITY 

For praise too dearly loved, or warmly sought, 
Enfeebles all internal strength of thought; 
And the weak soul within itself unblest, 
Leans for all pleasure on another's breast. 

— Goldsmith 



NOVEMBER 67 

STOOP AS YOU GO THROUGH 

Benjamin Franklin, the son of a tallow-chandler, the 
printer's apprentice, the printer, the philosopher, and the 
patriot, wrote the following incident of his visit, when a 
young man, to the celebrated Cotton Mather, a clergyman 
of New England. The letter was written to Cotton Mather's 
son. 

' 'The last time I saw your father was in the beginning 
of 1724, when I visited him after my first trip to Penn- 
sylvania. He received me in the library, and, on my taking 
leave, showed me a shorter way out of his house, through 
a narrow passage, which was crossed by a beam overhead. 
We were still talking as I withdrew, he accompanying be- 
hind, and I turning partly toward him, when he said hastily, 
'Stoop, stoop!' I did not understand him till I felt my 
head hit against the beam. He was a man that never missed 
any occasion of giving instruction ; and, upon this, he said, 
'You are young, and have the world before you. Stoop as 
you go through it, and you will miss many hard thumps.' 
This advice, thus beat into my head, has frequently been of 
use to me ; and I often think of it when I see pride morti- 
fied, and misfortunes brought upon people by carrying their 
heads too high. ' ' Before honor is humility. 

Birthday: Thomas Bailey Aldrich, an American poet 
and novelist, born in Portsmouth, N. H., November 11, 1836 ; 
died in Boston, Mass., March 19, 1907. 

12 FOEGIYENESS 

He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over 
which he must pass himself; for every man has need to 
be forgiven. — Lord Herbert 

A QUARREL SOON ENDED 

Two dogs began to quarrel over a bone that had been 
thrown to one of them. They were fighting on a bridge 



68 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

and before they knew it, both had fallen into the water. 
One of them was a Newfoundland dog, and swam easily 
to shore, but when he looked for his enemy he saw him still 
struggling in the water. This dog could not swim, and he 
was about to drown, when the Newfoundland dog plunged 
in and brought him safely to shore. They forgave each 
other then and became great friends. 

Read: "The Sympathy of Abraham Lincoln" and "A 
Hero of Valley Forge," from Baldwin's An American 
Book of Golden Deeds; Bible, Matt. 5 : 7-9 and 43-48. 

Sing: "Good Advice," from Merry Melodies. 

13 HAPPINESS 

Happy hearts and happy faces, 
Happy play in grassy places — 
That was how, in ancient ages, 
Children grew to kings and sages. 
— Robert Louis Stevenson 

PRAYER AT MORNING 

BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 

The day returns and brings us the petty round of irritat- 
ing concerns and duties. Help us to perform them with 
laughter and kind faces, let cheerfulness abound with 
industry. Give us to go blithely on our business all this 
day, bring us to our resting beds weary and content and 
undishonored, and grant us in the end the gift of sleep. 

Read: Selections from Stevenson's A Child's Garden of 
Verses. 

Sing: Selections from Robert Louis Stevenson Songs. 

Birthdays: Joseph Hooker, an American general, born 
in Hadley, Mass., November 13, 1814; died at Garden City, 
■N. Y., October 31, 1879. 

Edwin Thomas Booth, a noted American tragic actor, 



NOVEMBER 69 

born at Bel Air, Md., November 13, 1833; died June 7, 
1893. (John Wilkes Booth (1839-1865), a younger brother, 
was the assassin of President Lincoln.) 

Eobert Louis Stevenson, a noted Scottish novelist and 
story writer, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, November 13, 
1850; died at Apia, Samoa, December 3, 1894. 

14 SELF-CONTKOL 

How happy is he born or taught, 
Whose passions not his master are; 
Lord of himself, though not of lands, 
And having nothing, yet hath all! 

— Sir Henry Wotton 

THE ECHO 

Little Peter had never heard of the Echo which lives 
among the woods and rocks, and repeats the very words 
we speak. One day while walking in a field near a wood, 
he saw a squirrel running among the bushes. ' ' Ho ! Stop 
there!" he cried. Something in the woods answered him 
back, "Ho! Stop there!" Astonished, Peter shouted out, 
' ' Who are you ? ' ' The word came back, ' ' Who are you ? ' ' — 
"You are a fool," he answered. "You are a fool," was 
echoed back loud and clear from the wood. Peter grew 
angry, for he thought some saucy boy was hidden behind 
the trees. Then he poured out all the hard ugly names 
he could think of, but the Echo sent them all back to him 
in mocking tones. 

"He shall learn not to call me names," he said to 
himself, as he picked up a stick and ran toward the wood. 
Peter wandered in the wood a long time, but found no 
one. Tired and vexed, he went home and complained to 
his mother that a naughty boy, who had been calling him 
names, was hiding in the wood. 

"You have been angry with your own self," said his 



70 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

mother. ' ' It was only your own voice that made the sound, 
and you heard only the echo of your own words. If you 
had spoken kind words, kind words would have come back 
to you from the wood. ' ' 

— White's School Management 

15 SERVICE 

Not what we give, but what we share, 

For the gift without the giver is bare; 

Who gives himself with his alms feeds three, — 

Himself, his hungering neighbor, and me. 

— Lowell 

Birthdays : William Pitt, first earl of Chatham, an Eng- 
lish statesman, born November 15, 1708; died at Hayes, 
Kent, England, May 11, 1778. 

Sir William Herschel, a noted English astronomer, born 
in Hanover, Prussia, November 15, 1738 ; died at his home 
at Slough, near Windsor, England, August 23, 1822. 



16 TRUTH 

Dare to be true; nothing can need a lie. 
A fault which needs it most grows two thereby. 

— George Herbert 



THE PRICE OF A LIE 

If we are under no moral obligation to fulfill a promise 
made to do a wrong, there can be no dishonor in refusing 
its performance. Dishonor belongs to those who persist in 
doing wrong after they have discovered the right. 

" Would you tell a lie for three cents?" asked a teacher 
of one of her boys. "No, ma'am," answered Dick, very 
promptly. "For ten cents?" "No, ma'am." "For a 
dollar ? " " No, ma 'am. " ' ' For a hundred dollars f " "No, 
"For a thousand dollars?" 



NOVEMBER 71 

Here Dick was staggered. A thousand dollars looked like 
such a very big sum. Oh! what lots of things he could 
buy with a thousand dollars. While he was thinking about 
it, and trying to make up his mind whether it would pay 
to tell a lie for a thousand dollars, a boy behind him cried 
out: "No, ma'am." ''Why not?" asked the teacher. 

Now, mark this boy 's answer, and do not forget it. ' ' Be- 
cause, ma'am," said he, "the lie sticks. When the thou- 
sand dollars are all gone, and the good things bought with 
them are all gone, too, the lie is there all the same." 

And when we tell a lie we never can tell where the injury 
that springs from it will stop. It is just like loosening a 
great rock at the top of a mountain and letting it go rolling 
and plunging down the side of the mountain. Nobody can 
tell how far it will go, nor how much injury it will do 
before it stops rolling. 

Read: "Little Scotch Granite," from White's School 
Management. 

17 HUMILITY 

The very flowers that bend and meet, 
In sweetening others grow more sweet. 

— Holmes 

18 JUSTICE 

Be just and fear not; 
Let all the ends thou aim'st at be thy country's, 
Thy God's, and truth's. 

— Shakespeare 

Read: "The Bell of Atri," from Baldwin's Fifty 
Famous Stories Retold. 

Birthdays: Asa Gray, an American botanist, born in 
Paris, Oneida County, N. Y., November 18, 1810; died at 
Cambridge, Mass., January 30, 1888. 

William S. Gilbert, an English dramatist, born in London, 
England, November 18, 1836; drowned at Harrow, Eng- 
land, May 29, 1911. 



72 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

19 WISDOM 

Next in importance to freedom and justice is popu- 
lar education, without which neither justice nor free- 
dom can be permanently maintained. — James A. Garfield 

THE CAEEFUL OBSERVER 

BY COLTON 

A dervish was journeying alone in a desert, when two 
merchants suddenly met him. "You have lost a camel," 
said he to the merchants. "Indeed we have," they replied. 

"Was he not blind in his right eye, and lame in his left 
leg ? " said the dervish. ' ' He was, ' ' replied the merchants. 
"Had he not lost a front tooth?" "He had," said the 
merchants. "And was he not loaded with honey on one 
side, and with corn on the other?" "Most certainly he 
was," they replied; "and, as you have seen him so lately, 
and marked him so particularly, you can, in all probability, 
conduct us to him. ' ' 

"My friends," said the dervish, "I have never seen 
your camel, nor ever heard of him, but from you!" "A 
pretty story, truly," said the merchants; "but where are 
the jewels which formed a part of his burden ? " "I have 
seen neither your camel nor your jewels," repeated the 
dervish. 

On this, they seized his person, and forthwith hurried 
him before the cadi; but, on the strictest search, nothing 
could be found upon him, nor could any evidence whatever 
be adduced to convict him either of falsehood or of theft. 

They were about to proceed against him as a sorcerer, 
when the dervish, with great calmness, thus addressed the 
court : "I have been much amused with your surprise, and 
own that there has been some ground for your suspicions ; 
but I have lived long and alone, and I can find ample 
scope for observation even in a desert. 

"I knew that I had crossed the track of a camel that 
had strayed from its owner, because I saw no mark of any 



NOVEMBER 73 

human footstep on the same route. I knew that the animal 
was blind of one eye, because it had cropped the herbage 
only on one side of its path; and that it was lame in one 
leg, from the faint impression which that particular foot 
had produced upon the sand. 

"I concluded that the animal had lost one tooth, because, 
wherever it had grazed, a small tuft of herbage had been 
left uninjured in the center of its bite. As to that which 
formed the burden of the beast, the busy ants informed 
me that it was corn on the one side; and the clustering 
flies, that it was honey on the other." 

Birthdays: Albert Bertel Tborwaldsen, a Danish sculp- 
tor, born at sea, November 19, 1770; died in Copenhagen, 
Denmark, March 24, 1844. 

James A. Garfield, an American general and statesman, 
and twentieth president of the United States, born in 
Orange, Ohio, November 19, 1831 ; shot by an assassin in 
Washington, D. C, July 2, 1881. 



20 MOTHER 

Hundreds of stars in the silent sky, 
Hundreds of shells on the shore together, 
Hundreds of birds that go singing by, 
Hundreds of bees in the sunny weather; 
Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn, 
Hundreds of lambs in the purple clover, 
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn — 
But only one mother the wide world over. 

Birthday: Peregrine White, the first child of English 
parents born in New England, born on the Mayflower, 
November 20, 1620 ; he died July 20, 1704. 



21 PATRIOTISM 

He who serves his country well has no need of an- 
cestors. — Voltaire 



74 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Read: "William Tell," from Baldwin's Fifty Famous 
Stories Retold; ' ■ Lexington, ' ' by Holmes. 

Sing: "America." 

Birthday: Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire, a famous 
French writer, born in Paris, France, November 21, 1694 ; 
died in Paris, May 30, 1778. 

22 PATIENCE 

It is easy finding reasons why other folks should be 
patient. — George Eliot 

PEGGING AWAY DID IT 

A friend once said to President Lincoln: "Do you 
expect to end this war during your administration V ' Mr. 
Lincoln replied: "I do not know, sir." "But Mr. Lin- 
coln, what do you mean to do?" "Peg away, sir; peg 
away, keep pegging away!" Pegging away did it. 

Read: "Wait and See," from Poulsson's In the Child's 
World. "The Little Rooster," from Boston Collection of 
Kindergarten Stories. 

Birthday: Robert Cavelier de La Salle, a noted French 
navigator, born in Rouen, France, November 22, 1643; shot 
when near a branch of the Trinity River in Texas, March 
19, 1687. 

Philip Schuyler, an American general, born at Albany, 
N. Y., November 22, 1733; died at Albany, November 18, 
1804. 

George Eliot, the assumed name of Mary Ann Evans, a 
famous English writer of novels, born at Arbury Farm, 
Derbyshire, England, November 22, 1819; died December 
22, 1880. 

23 HONOR 

Honor and shame from no condition rise, 
Act well your part, there all the honor lies. 

— Pope 



NOVEMBER 75 

Birthday: Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth president 
of the United States, born in Hillsborough, N. H., November 
23, 1804; died in Concord, Mass., October 8, 1869. 

Special Days : Arbor Day in South Carolina (third Fri- 
day in November). 

Arbor Day in West Virginia (third Friday in November 
and April). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 

24 HEEOISM 

Heroism is simple, and yet it is rare. Every one who 
does the best he can is a hero. — Josh Billings 

GRACE DARLING 

To-day is the birthday of Grace Darling, an English girl, 
who did so brave a deed that her name is known wherever 
the English language is spoken. The desolute Fame 
Islands lie off the northeast coast of Northumberland — a 
group of stern basaltic rocks, black and bare, with a dan- 
gerous sea roaring about them. In stormy weather they 
are inaccessible for days and weeks together. They have 
no other inhabitants but the gulls and puffins that scream 
about the rocks. But on the farthest point, the Longstone 
Rock, a lighthouse had been erected to warn off the ships 
passing between England and Scotland. Two old persons — ■ 
a man and his wife — and a young woman, their daughter- 
Grace Darling — were the keepers of the lighthouse. 

One night in September, 1838, a steamer was wrecked 
near the lighthouse, and in the morning Grace saw some 
people clinging to the rocks or to the fragments of the 
vessel. The fog was so heavy and the sea so rough that 
Mr. Darling was afraid to go to the rescue, but Grace per- 
suaded him to launch a boat. Then followed the greatest 
struggle of their lives. The wind beat against them, the 
waves dashed over them, but they cared not for all this. 

When they reached the wrecked vessel, only nine of the 
sixty-three unfortunate beings were alive. These they took 



76 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

into their boat and started on the return trip. The rescued 
men were so weak with cold and hunger and thirst that not 
one was able to use an oar, and it was only after a terrible 
struggle that Grace and her father were able to reach their 
lighthouse home. There the mother was ready to receive 
them, to nurse them, to feed them, and to restore them to 
health and strength. They remained there for three days, 
until the storm abated, and they could be carried to the 
mainland. For this brave act a subscription of £700 
($3,500) was raised for Grace Darling, and she received 
many other valuable presents. When she died her friends 
placed a marble monument over her grave. 

Read : Wordsworth 's ' ' Grace Darling. ' ' 

Birthdays: Zachary Taylor, general and twelfth presi- 
dent of the United States, born in Orange County, Va., 
November 24, 1784; died in Washington, D. C, July 9, 
1850. 

Grace Darling, an English heroine, born at Bamborough, 
Northumberland, November 24, 1815; died October 20, 
1842. 

Frances Hodgson Burnett, an American novelist, born 
in Manchester, England, November 24, 1849; living in 
Washington, D. C. Best known to young folks by her 
beautiful story called Little Lord Fauntleroy. 

25 HONESTY 

He that cannot think is a fool; 
He that will not think is a bigot; 
He that dare not is a slave. 

— Carnegie 

THE STORY OF ANDREW CARNEGIE 

There was once a young Scotch boy, the son of a weaver. 
He was born poor, in a story-and-a-half house. He came 
to this country with the rest of his father's family when 



NOVEMBER 77 

lie was ten, and commenced on a job that paid him 20 cents 
a day. 

Faithful work as a bobbin boy soon procured him a posi- 
tion that earned him almost a dollar a day. His attentive- 
ness to what was given him to do brought him after a little 
while to the attention of a railroad man who was a large 
employer of help. 

He had in the meantime been economizing his small 
earnings, out of which it was suggested to him that he 
take a little stock in a car company. He hadn't enough 
money and no security to offer, but resolved to apply to the 
bank for a loan. 

What happened when he went to the bank is what I 
want the boys particularly to notice, for it really marks the 
crisis in the young fellow 's life and explains what followed 
during the years after. 

I just said that in asking for a loan he had nothing that 
he could offer as security ; that is, he owned nothing that 
he could make over to the bank in case he failed to return 
the loan. Security of the ordinary kind he did not have, 
but he had something that was just as satisfactory to the 
banker, for he had a character for honesty, faithfulness 
and perseverance, and the banker said to him : ' ■ You shall 
have the money, Andy. ' ' 

That $600 was the turning point in Andrew Carnegie's 
life and was the nest-egg that in course of time filled the 
nest with so many eggs that it would take a string of figures 
to count them. — Adapted from Dr. Charles H. Parkhurst 

Sing: "You Never Miss the ■Water," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: John Bigelow, an American editor and dip- 
lomatist, born in Maiden, Ulster County, N. Y., November 
25, 1817 ; died December 19, 1911. 

Andrew Carnegie, an American capitalist and philan- 
thropist, born in Dunfermline, Scotland, November 25, 
1835. 



78 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

26 THANKSGIVING 

And we, to-day, amidst our flowers 

And fruits, have come to own again 
The blessings of the summer hours, 

The early and the latter rain; 
To see our Father's hand once more 

Reverse for us the plenteous horn 
Of autumn, filled and running o'er 

With fruit, and flower, and golden corn! 

— Whittier 

Read: "The Landing of the Pilgrims/' by Felicia 
Hemans; "The First Thanksgiving Day," from Wiggin 
and Smith's The Story Hour; "How Patty Gave Thanks," 
from Poulsson's In the Child's World; "The Story of the 
First Corn," from Bailey and Lewis' For the Children's 
Hour; Bible, Psalm 100. For Thanksgiving selections, pro- 
cure a copy of Sindelar's Thanksgiving Entertainments. 

Sing : ' ' Thanksgiving Day ' ' and ' ' Thanksgiving Joys, ' ' 
from Songs in Season. 

Birthday : William Cowper, a noted English poet, born 
in Hertfordshire, England, November 26, 1731 ; died at 
East Dereham, Norfolk, England, April 25, 1800. 

Special Day: Thanksgiving Day (last Thursday in 
November) . 



27 THANKSGIVING 

[Continued] 

Over the river and through the wood 

To grandfather's house we'll go; 

The horse knows the way 

To carry the sleigh 

Through the white and drifted snow. 

Over the river and through the wood, 

Trot fast, my dapple gray! 

Spring over the ground 

Like a hunting hound! 

For this is Thanksgiving Day. 

— Selected 



NOVEMBER 79 

28 FRIENDSHIP 

When you find one good and true, 
Change not the old friend for the new. 

Birthday: Anton Rubinstein, a famous Russian pianist 
and composer, born in Volhynia, Russia, November 28, 
1829 ; died at Peterhof , Russia, November 20, 1894. 

29 FAITHFULNESS 

Faithfulness in little things fits one for heroism when 
the great trials come. — Louisa May Alcott 

Read : Selections from the Louisa Alcott Reader. 

Birthdays: Wendell Phillips, a noted American orator, 
born in Boston, Mass., November 29, 1811 ; died in Boston, 
February 2, 1884. 

Louisa May Alcott, an American author, born in German- 
town, Pa., November 29, 1832; died in Concord, Mass., 
March 6, 1888. 

30 PERSEVERANCE 

My son, observe the postage stamp! Its usefulness 
depends upon its ability to stick to one thing until it 
gets there. — Josh Billings 

THE LAYING OF THE TELEGRAPH-CABLE 

Cyrus W. Field became a clerk in New York when 
fifteen years old, and in a few years was at the head of a 
large mercantile house. When he got rich he gave up 
his business, and devoted himself to a plan for the laying 
of a telegraphic cable under the ocean between Europe and 
America. The first two attempts were disappointments; 
the third time was successful, and several messages were 
flashed across. Everybody rejoiced, but in a little while 
the messages stopped, the cable ceased working, and people 
began to say that it never could be laid. Field alone kept 



80 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

up a brave heart. Seven years passed by, and the Great 
Eastern steamed off with a new cable; but soon the ill 
tidings came that by a sudden lurch of the ship the cable 
was broken in mid-ocean. After this people lost all patience 
with Field's plans, but with the resolved will of a hero, 
he succeeded in 1866 in uniting the two hemispheres, amid 
the rejoicings and congratulations of the world. He accom- 
plished his purpose because he would not give up. When 
the cable was laid, Mr. Field said of his trials: ''It has 
been a long and hard struggle to lay the Atlantic telegraph 
— nearly thirteen years of anxious watching and ceaseless 
toil. Often has my heart been ready to sink. I have some- 
times almost accused myself of madness for sacrificing all 
my home comforts for what might, after all, prove a dream. 
I have seen my companions one after another fall by my 
side, and feared that I, too, might not live to see the end. 
I have often prayed that I might not taste of death till this 
work was accomplished. That prayer is now answered.' ' 

Sing: "Work, for the Night is Coming" or "Life is 
Real, Life is Earnest," from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays: Jonathan Swift, a British writer, born in 
Dublin, Ireland, November 30, 1667, of English ancestry; 
died October 19, 1735. Author of Gulliver's Travels. 

Cyrus W. Field, an American merchant, famous for 
laying the telegraph-cable between Europe and America, 
born in Stockbridge, Mass., November 30, 1819 ; died July 
11, 1892. 

Mark Twain, the pen-name of Samuel Langhorne 
Clemens, a noted American author and humorist, born at 
Florida, Mo., November 30, 1835 ; died at his summer home 
in Reading Ridge, Conn., April 21, 1910. 



DECEMBER 



1 FLATTERY 



Flattery is like a painted armor; only for show. 

— Socrates 



FLATTERERS AND SLANDERERS 

The response of Diogenes, the ancient Greek philosopher, 
to the question, ' ' What beast 's bite is the most dangerous 1 ' ' 
was "If you mean wild beasts, the slanderer's; if tame 
ones, the flatterer's." 

Birthday: Clarke Mills, an American sculptor, born in 
Onondaga County, N. Y., December 1, 1815 ; died in Wash- 
ington, D. C, January 12, 1883. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Georgia (first Friday in 
December). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 

2 PUEPOSE 

But whatever you are, be true, boys! 
Be visible through and through, boys! 
Leave to others the shamming, 
The cheating and palming, 
In fun and in earnest, be true, boys! 

— Mackay 

"WHAT SHALL I DO?" 

' ' What shall I do ? " My boy, don 't stand asking ; 

Take hold of something — whatever you can; 
Don't turn aside for the toiling or tasking; 

Idle, soft hands never yet made a man. 



82 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Grasp with a will whatever needs doing; 

Still stand ready, when one work is done, 
Another to seize, then still pursuing 

In duty your course, find the victory won. 

Do your best for to-day, trust God for to-morrow ; 

Don 't be afraid of a jest or a sneer ; 
Be cheerful and hopeful, and no trouble borrow ; 

Keep the heart true, and the head cool and clear. 

If you can climb to the top without falling, 

Do it. If not, go as high as you can. 
Man is not honored by business or calling; 

Business and calling are honored by man. 

— Selected 

Sing: "Good Resolutions, ' ' from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 

Birthdays: Hernando Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, 
born in Medellin, Spain, in 1485 ; died near Seville, Spain, 
December 2, 1547. 

Richard Montgomery, an American general, born near 
Raphoe, Ireland, December 2, 1736; killed by a cannon- 
ball, December 31, 1775. 

3 TRUE WORTH 

True worth is in being, not seeming, — 

In doing each day that goes by 
Some little good — not in the dreaming 

Of great tilings to do by and by. 
For whatever men say in blindness, 

And spite of the fancies of youth, 
There's nothing so kingly as kindness, 

And nothing so royal as truth. 

— Alice Cary 

ROBERT BURNS AND THE FARMER 

Robert Burns was once taken to task by a young Edin- 
burgh nobleman, with whom he was walking, for recog- 



DECEMBER g3 

nizing an honest farmer in the street. "Why, you fantastic 
gomeral ! ' ' exclaimed Burns, ' ' it was not the great coat, the 
scone bonnet, and the saunders-boot hose that I spoke to, 
but the man that was in them; and the man, sir, for true 
worth, would weigh down you and me, and ten more such, 
any day." 

Read: "The Magnet's Choice/' from Howliston's Cat- 
Tails and Other Tales; "Naughty Little Gold Finger," 
from Boston Collection of Kindergarten Stories, Bible, 
Prov. 22 : 1-2. 

Sing: "The Fountain," from Songs Every One Should 
Know. 

Birthdays: Mary Baker Glover Eddy, the founder of 
Christian Science, born at Bow, N. H., July 16, 1821 ; 
died December 3, 1910. 

George B. McClellan, an American general, born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., December 3, 1826; died at Orange, N. 
J., October 29, 1885. 

4 WORK 

There is always hope in a man that actually and 
earnestly works. In idleness alone is there perpetual 
despair. — Garlyle 

Birthday: Thomas Carlyle, an English author, born in 
Ecclefechan, Scotland, December 4, 1795; died in Chelsea, 
London, England, February 5, 1881. 

5 YOUTH 

My boy, I'd give the world, if it were mine, 

To backward turn the dial of time 

And be a boy again, with heart like thine; 

To quaff again the cup, care free — 

To play the pranks that thou dost play on me, 

And laugh the laugh the boyhood's sportive glee; 

To chase each gold-winged butterfly I meet, 

To feel the green grass kiss my sun -browned feet, 

To look on life as but a poem sweet. 



84 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Be not too swift to run thy boyish race — 

Too soon will come the time, though slow the pace, 

When care will mark its furrows on thy face. 

Youth comes but once; we may not change the plan; 

Enjoy these clays — the only ones that can 

Reward the sufferings - of the grown-up man. 

— A. E. Jackson 

Sing: "Follow Me, Full of Glee," from Kellogg 's Best 
Primary Songs. 

Birthday: Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the 
United States, born at Kinderhook, N. Y., December 5, 
1782 ; died at Kinderhook, July 24, 1862. 

George A. Custer, an American soldier, born at New 
Rumley, Ohio, December 5, 1839 ; killed while in command 
of an expedition against the Sioux Indians, June 25, 1876. 

6 USEFULNESS 

No one is useless in this world who lightens the 
burden of another. — Dickens 

LITTLE THINGS 

BY EBENEZER C. BREWER 

Little drops of water, 

Little grains of sand, 
Make the mighty ocean, 

And the pleasant land. 

Thus the little minutes 

Humble though they be, 
Make the mighty ages 

Of eternity. 

7 UNKIND WORDS 

Oh, many a shaft at random sent 
Finds mark the archer little meant, 
And many a word at random spoken 
May soothe, or wound a heart that's broken. 

— Scott 



DECEMBER 85 

A DINNER OF TONGUES 

^Esop was the servant of a philosopher named Xanthus. 
One day his master being desirous of entertaining some of 
his friends to dinner, he ordered him to provide the best 
things he could find in the market, ^sop thereupon made 
a large provision of tongues, which he had the cook serve 
up with different sauces. When dinner came, all the 
courses and side dishes were of tongues. 

' 'Did I not order you," said Xanthus, in a violent 
passion, "to buy the best victuals which the market 
afforded?" 

"And have I not obeyed your orders?" said yEsop. "Is 
there anything better than tongues? Is not the tongue the 
bond of civil society, the key of science, and the organ of 
truth and reason? It is by means of the tongue cities are 
built, and governments established and administered; with 
it men instruct, persuade, and preside in assemblies." 

"Well, then," replied Xanthus, "go to market to-morrow 
and buy me the worst things you can find. This same 
company shall dine with me, and I have a mind to change 
my entertainment." 

When Xanthus assembled his friends the next day, he 
was astonished to find that ^Esop had provided nothing 
but the very same dishes. 

"Did I not tell you," said Xanthus, "to purchase the 
worst things for this day's feast? How comes it, then, 
that you have placed before us the same kind of food, 
which only yesterday, you declared to be the very best?" 

^Esop, not at all abashed, replied: "The tongue is the 
worst thing in the world as well as the best; for it is the 
instrument of all strife and contention, the fomenter of 
law-suits, the source of division and war, the organ of error, 
of calumny, of falsehood, and even of profanity. ' ' 

Read: "The Fairy Who Judged Her Neighbors," from 
Ingelow's Three Fairy Stories. 



86 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

8 PEBSEVEEANCE 

If little labor, little are our gains; 
Man's fortunes are according to his pains. 

— Herrick 

ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON-GIN 

Eli Whitney when a boy earned his living by making 
nails by hand. By careful economy he was enabled to 
pay his way through Yale College, from which he graduated 
in 1792. He then went to Georgia to become a tutor, but 
found the expected place filled, and accordingly sought em- 
ployment on the plantation of the widow of General 
Nathaniel Greene, near Savannah. There he developed 
much inventive talent, and at Mrs. Greene's suggestion 
undertook to devise a machine which would do the work 
of cleaning cotton and separating it from the seed. He 
devoted a winter to the task, and the result was the 
machine which he called the cotton-gin. This machine 
would do in a few days the work which it formerly took 
a hundred men many weeks to do. When the machine was 
perfected, in 1793, he showed it to nobody but Mrs. Greene 
and one other person, but it soon became talked about, the 
building which contained it was broken open at night and 
the model was stolen. Before he could make another and 
get a patent upon it, several of the machines were at work 
on neighboring plantations. This theft compelled him to 
resort to many law-suits in a vain effort to protect his 
rights. The net result was that Mr. Whitney never received 
any fair return for one of the greatest inventions of the 
age and one which did more for the Southern States than 
any other. Thus robbed by his beneficiaries, Mr. Whitney 
returned to New England in 1798, and engaged in the 
manufacture of firearms, in which he was very successful. 

Birthdays : Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton-gin, born 
in Westborough, Mass., December 8, 1765; died in New 
Haven, Conn., January 8, 1825. 



DECEMBER 87 

George Alfred Henty, an English writer of novels and 
stories for young folks, born at Trumpington, near Cam- 
bridge, England, December 8, 1832; died November 16, 
1902. 

Bjornstjerne Bjornson, a famous Norwegian dramatist 
and novelist, born at Koikne, Osterdalen, Norway, Decem- 
ber 8, 1832 ; died in Paris, France, April 26, 1910. 

Joel Chandler Harris, an American writer, born at 
Eatonton, Ga., December 8, 1848; died in Atlanta, Ga., 
July 3, 1908. 

9 COURAGE 

Mortals, that would follow me, 
Love Virtue; she alone is free; 
She can teach you how to climb, 
Higher than the sphery chime; 
Or, if Virtue feeble were, 
Heaven itself would stoop to her. 
— From "Comus" by John Milton 

JOHN MILTON, THE BLIND POET 

The life of John Milton stands as a monument of cour- 
age and inspiration, and teaches us a valuable lesson. For 
six years blindness had been coming upon Milton, and the 
year of 1660 saw him deprived of sight, and with no sup- 
port for himself or family. Then he wrote his greatest 
work, the sublime poem of "Paradise Lost." His "Par- 
adise Regained ' ' was written four years later. 

Bead: Extracts from Helen Keller's Story of My Life, 
or tell the story to the children; also read her book, The 
World I Live In. 

Sing: "Merrily, Merrily Sing," from Kellogg 's Best 
Primary Songs. 

Birthday : John Milton, a famous English poet, born in 
London, England, December 9, 1608 ; died Nov. 8, 1674. 



88 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

10 HOME AND PARENTS 

The boys that are wanted are loving boys, 
Fond of home and father and mother, 

Counting the old-fashioned household joys 
Dearer and sweeter than any other. 

The girls that are wanted are home girls, 

Girls that are mother's right hand, 
That fathers and brothers can trust too, 

And the little ones understand. 

Birthday : Edward Eggleston, an American author, born 
at Vevay, Ind., December 10, 1837; died at Joshua's Rock, 
Lake George, N. Y., September 2, 1902. Author of The 
Hoosier Schoolmaster, The Hoosier Schoolboy, etc. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Mississippi. (See Arbor 
Day, April 21 and 22, this book.) 

11 GOOD DEEDS 

You cannot dream yourself into a character, you 
must forge one. — Carter 

WHICH LOVED BEST 

BY JOY ALLISON 

* ' I love you, mother, ' ' said little John ; 
Then forgetting his work, his cap went on, 
And he was off to the garden swing, 
Leaving his mother the wood to bring. 

"I love you, mother,' ' said little Nell, 
* ' I love you better than tongue can tell. ' ' 
Then she teased and pouted half the day, 
Till mother rejoiced when she went to play. 

"I love you, mother," said little Fan, 
"To-day I'll help you all I can." 
To the cradle then she did softly creep, 
And rocked the baby till it fell asleep. 



DECEMBER 89 

Then stepping softly she took the broom 
And swept the floor and dusted the room. 
Busy and happy all day was she, 
Helpful and cheerful as child could be. 

"I love you, mother,' ' again they said, 
Three little children going to bed. 
How do you think the mother guessed 
Which of them really loved her best? 

Birthday: Sir David Brewster, a famous British phi- 
losopher and scholar, born at Jedburgh, Scotland Decem- 
ber 11, 1781; died February 10, 1868. 

12 AMIABILITY 

It's easy enough to be pleasant, 
When life flows along like a song; 
But the man worth while 
Is the one who can smile 
When everything goes dead wrong. 
— Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

Birthdays : John Jay, the first chief justice of the United 
States, born in New York City, December 12, 1745 ; died at 
Bedford, N. Y., May 17, 1829. 

John R. Green, a noted English historian, born at Oxford, 
England, December 12, 1837; died at Mentone, France, 
March 7, 1883. 

13 SUCCESS 

Set yourself earnestly to see what you were made 
to do, and then set yourself earnestly to do it. 

— Phillips Brooks 

THE ONE ROAD 



<< 



There is but one straight road to success, ' ' says Bourke 
Cochran, the well-known orator, ' ' and that is merit. Capac- 
ity never lacks opportunity. It cannot remain undiscovered 
because it is sought by too many anxious to utilize it. A 



90 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

capable man on earth is more valuable than any precious 
deposit under the earth, and is the object of a more vigilant 
search." 

Birthdays: Phillips Brooks, a bishop of the Episcopal 
Church and a noted pulpit orator and poet, born in Boston, 
Mass., December 13, 1835; died in Boston, January 23, 
1893. 

Samuel Smiles, a Scottish writer, born at Haddington, 
Scotland, December 13, 1812; died in England, April 17, 
1904. 

14 CHEEEFULNESS 

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; 
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; 
Thy fate is the common fate of all, 
Into each life some rain must fall, 

Some days must be dark and dreary. 
— From "The Rainy Day" by Longfellow 

Read: "The Desert/ ' from Richards' The Golden Win- 
dows; "The Miller of the Dee," from Baldwin's Fifty 
Famous Stories Retold. 

Sing : ' ' Music Everywhere, ' ' from Merry Melodies. 

Birthday : Noah Porter, an American writer and scholar, 
president of Yale College, born in Farmington, Conn., De- 
cember 14, 1811 ; died March 4, 1892. Dr. Porter was chief 
editor of Webster's International Dictionary. 

15 SEEVICE 

Men and things are only valuable as they are 
serviceable. 

SOMEBODY 

Somebody did a golden deed ; 
Somebody proved a friend in need; 
Somebody sang a beautiful song; 
Somebody smiled the whole day long; 



DECEMBER 91 



j > 



Somebody thought, " 'Tis sweet to live 
Somebody said, ''I'm glad to give"; 
Somebody fought a valiant fight; 
Somebody lived to shield the right; 
Was that ' ' Somebody " you ? 

Bead : * ' Home " and ' ' The Wheatfield, ' ' from Richards ' 
The Golden Windoivs; Bible, Matt. 7 :12 and Matt. 5 :7. 

Sing: "The World is What We Make It," from School 
Song Knapsack. 

Birthday: Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, a noted French 
engineer and builder of the Eiffel Tower for the Paris ex- 
hibition of 1889, born at Dijon, Prance, December 15, 1832. 

Special Day : Arbor Day in Arkansas. (See Arbor Day, 
April 19 and 20, this book.) 

16 TEUE NOBILITY 

We want no kings but kings of toil — 

No crowns but crowns of deeds; 
Not royal birth but sterling worth 

Must mark the man who leads. 

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

PROOFS OF NOBILITY 

Beethoven [birthday December 17], the great musician 
and composer, who, in his majestic stateliness, is likened to 
the poet Milton, was asked to produce proofs of his nobility. 
Turning at once to the king, for the incident occurred at 
court, the democratic nobleman replied by pointing to his 
head and his heart, saying, ' ' My nobility is here and here. ' ' 

17 WHITTIEB'S BIBTHDAY 

The riches of the Commonwealth 

Are free, strong minds, and hearts of health; 

And more to her than gold or grain, 

The cunning hand and cultured brain. 

— Whittier 



92 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Read or tell : The story of Whittier 's boyhood, life, and 
work; read the chapters on Quaker life in Uncle Tom's 
Cabin; " "Whittier, ' ' from Cody's Four American Poets; 
"The Boyhood of John Greenleaf Whittier,'' from Our 
Holidays: Retold from St. Nicholas. From his poems: 
"The Barefoot Boy," " Snow-Bound, " etc. 

Read: "Sir Humphry Davy's Greatest Discovery, 
Michael Faraday, ' ' from Marden 's Stories from Life. 

Sing: "Whittier," from Songs in Season. 

Birthdays : Ludwig van Beethoven, a famous musician, 
born in Bonn, Germany, December 17, 1770 ; died in Vienna, 
Austria, March 26, 1827. 

Sir Humphry Davy, a celebrated English chemist, born 
in Penzance, Cornwall, England, December 17, 1778 ; died 
in Geneva, Switzerland, May 29, 1829. 

John Greenleaf Whittier, the "Quaker poet," born in 
Haverhill, Mass., December 17, 1807; died at Hampton 
Falls, N. H., September 7, 1892. 

18 CONTENTMENT 

Over my shaded doorway, 

Two little brown-winged birds 
Have chosen to fashion their dwelling 

And utter their loving words. 
All day they are coming and going 

On errands frequent and fleet, 
And warbling over and over, 

Sweet, sweet, sweet, O, sweet! 

— Selected 

THE KING STORK 

There were once some frogs which lived in a beautiful 
lake. They thought that they would be perfectly happy if 
they only had a king. A stork was sent to rule over them. 
The frogs went out to meet him gladly. The stork put 
forth his head, took up a frog and swallowed him. Then 
the frogs were very sorry that they had asked for a king. 



DECEMBER 93 

Every day the stork king did the same thing until all the 
poor frogs had disappeared. 

Birthday : Lyman Abbott, a Congregational clergyman, 
author, and journalist, son of Jacob Abbott, born at Rox- 
bury, Mass., December 18, 1835. Editor of The Outlook, 



19 MANNERS 

Do you wish the world were better? 

Let me tell you what to do. 
Set a watch upon your actions, 

Keep them always straight and true. 
Rid your mind of selfish motives, 

Let your thoughts be clean and high. 
You can make a little Eden, 

Of the sphere you occupy. 

A SERIES OF DON'TS 

Don't slight a boy because his home is plain and un- 
pretending. Abraham Lincoln's home was a log cabin. 

Don 't slight a boy because of the ignorance of his parents. 
Shakespeare, the world's poet, was the son of a man who 
was unable to write his own name. 

Don't slight a boy because he chooses an humble trade. 
The author of Pilgrim's Progress was a tinker. 

Don't slight a boy because of physical disability. Milton 
was blind. 

Don't slight a boy because of dullness in his lessons. 
Hogarth, the celebrated painter and engraver, was a stupid 
boy at his books. 

Don't slight any one; not alone because some day they 
may far outstrip you in the race of life, but because it is 
neither right, nor kind, nor polite. — Selected 

Read: Nixie Bunny in Manners-Land, by Sindelar, to 
the little folks; "The Knights and the Naughty Child," 
from Bakewell 's True Fairy Stories. 



94 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Birthday : Edwin McMasters Stanton, an American law- 
yer and statesman, born at Steubenville, Ohio, December 19, 
1814; died at Washington, D. C, December 20, 1869. 

20 PUBPOSE 

I RESOLVE 
To keep my health; 
To do my work; 
To live; 

To see to it I grow and gain and give; 
Never to look behind me for an hour; 
To wait in weakness, and to walk in power; 
But always fronting onward to the light; 
Always and always facing toward the light. 
— Charlotte P. Stetson 

21 PEBSEVERANCE 

The great secret of success in life is for a man to 
be ready when his opportunity comes. — Disraeli 

INDUSTRY AND APPLICATION 

Mr. Disraeli affords an instance of the power of indus- 
try and application in working out an eminent career. 
His first achievements were, like Bulwer's, in literature; 
and he reached success only through a succession of fail- 
ures. As an orator, too, his first appearance in the House 
of Commons was a failure. Though composed in a grand 
and ambitious strain, every sentence was hailed with 
"loud laughter." Yet he felt so sure that he would some 
day be a great man that he ended by saying: "I have 
begun several times many things, and have succeeded in 
them at last. I will sit down now, but the time will come 
when you will hear me." The time did come; and how 
Disraeli succeeded affords a striking illustration of what 
energy and determination will do. 

Birthday: Benjamin Disraeli, earl of Beaconsfield, a 
noted English writer and statesman, born in London, Eng- 
land, December 21, 1805 ; died on April 19, 1881. 



DECEMBER 95 

22 HEROES 

Here's to the boy who has courage to say 
"No!" when he's tempted, and turn straight away 
From temptation and tempter, and do what is right — 
Such boys are heroes who'll win in the fight. 

Here's to the boy who is willing to work, 
And, if he could, not a duty would shirk; 
Doing his best at his work or his play — 
Such boys will do to depend on, I say. 

— Hezekiah Butterworth 

Sing : ' ' When the Swallows Homeward Fly, ' ' by Franz 
Abt. 

Birthdays: Franz Abt, a German composer, born at 
Eilenberg, Prussian Saxony, December 22, 1819 ; died at 
Weisbaden, April 2, 1885. 

Hezekiah Butterworth, an American writer for young 
folks, born in Warren, R. I., December 22, 1839 ; died Sep- 
tember 5, 1905. 

23 CHRISTMAS 

[December 25] 

"Tis the time of the year for the open hand, 

And the tender heart and true, 
When a rift of heaven has cleft the skies 

And the saints are looking through. 

— Margaret Sangster 

Read: "How Uncle Sam Observes Christmas," from 
Our Holidays: Retold from St. Nicholas; "Christmas 
Everywhere," by Phillips Brooks ; "Christmas Like it Used 
to Be," by Nixon Waterman; "The First Christmas Tree," 
by Van Dyke. 

Sing: Christmas songs from Songs in Season. Procure 
copy of Sindelar's The Best Christmas Book for other songs 
and entertainment material. 

Birthdays: Hamilton Wright Mabie, an American 
author and critic, born at Cold Spring, N. Y., December 
23, 1846 ; lives at Summit, N. J. 



96 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Harriet Monroe, an American author, born in Chicago, 
111., December 23, 1860; lives in Chicago. 

24 CHRISTMAS 

[Continued] 

I heard the bells on Christmas Day, 
Their old familiar carols play 

And wild and sweet 

The words repeat 

Of peace on earth, good-will to men. 

******* 

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep; 
God is not dead; nor doth he sleep! 

The wrong shall fail, 

The right prevail, 
With peace on earth, good-will to men. 

— Longfellow 

Birthdays: William Makepeace Thackeray, a famous 
English writer, born at Calcutta, British India, July 18, 
1811 ; died December 24, 1863. 

Matthew Arnold, an English poet, born at Laleham, 
England, December 24, 1822 ; died April 15, 1888. 

25 CHRISTMAS 

[Concluded] 

"What means that star," the shepherds said, 
"That brightens through the rocky glen?" 

And angels answering overhead, 

Sang, "Peace on earth, good-will to men." 

— From "A Christmas Carol" by James Russell Lowell 

JESUS OF NAZARETH 

The following extract has been translated from the writ- 
ings of the contemporary historians of the period of Pope 
Innocent VIII. 

Pnblius Lentulus, in those days Governor of Judea, wrote 
the following message to the Senate and People of Rome : 

"There appeared in these days a most virtuous man, by 
the name of Jesus Christ, who still lives among us, and is 



DECEMBER 97 

considered by the heathens a Prophet of Truth, but called 
by His own disciples the Son of God. He raises people 
from the dead, and cures diseases of all kinds. Being a 
man of tall and imposing stature, strongly inspiring ven- 
eration by His appearance, He instills both love and fear 
into the minds of those who see Him. His hair has the 
color of a fully ripened hazelnut, almost smooth down to 
the ears, slightly curly lower down, and of a more oriental 
shade as it falls in a wavy mass upon His shoulders. In 
accordance with the custom of the Nazarenes it is parted 
in the middle. His brow is very smooth and bears the im- 
print of frankness. His face is free from blemishes and 
wrinkles, beautiful, and with a pleasing, rosy complexion. 
The lines of the nose and mouth are immaculate, the beard 
is rather full, of a shade well in harmony with the color 
of His hair and not very long. His eyes are gray, clear and 
animated. His body is shapely and vigorous, and His arms 
and hands are well proportioned. When censuring, He in- 
spires awe; when admonishing, He is kindly and pre- 
possessing. His speech is moderate, full of wisdom and 
modest, but at the same time dignified. No one can recol- 
lect seeing Him laugh, but many have seen Him weep." 

Tell about Newton and the law of gravitation. 

Birthdays: Samuel de Champlain, a noted French 
navigator, born at Brouage, France, in 1567 ; died in Que- 
bec, Canada, December 25, 1635. 

Sir Isaac Newton, a famous English philosopher and 
mathematician, born at Woolsthorpe, Lincolnshire, Eng- 
land, December 25, 1642; died at London, March 20, 1727. 

Clara Barton, "America's Florence Nightingale, " and 
the first president of the Red Cross Society of America, 
born at Oxford, Mass., December 25, 1822; died in 1892. 
(See "The Red Cross," October 26, this boak.) 

Edwin H. Blashfield, an American painter, born in New 
York City, December 25, 1848 ; has his studio in New York. 
Painted Christmas Chimes, etc. 



98 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

26 HUMILITY 

Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear; 

Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 
And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 

— Gray 

THE POMPOUS YOUNG MAN 

A story is told of a pompous young man who bustled into 
a great lawyer's office. 

"This is Mr. Sheldon ?" he said. 

"Yes," responded the lawyer. 

"Well, I'm Mr. Harvey of Harvey, Wright & Company.' ' 

"Take a chair, Mr. Harvey," said the lawyer. 

"My father was a cousin of Senator Harvey and I — " 

1 ' Take two chairs, Mr. Harvey ! ' ' 

"It is indeed a good thing to be well descended — but the 
glory belongs to one's ancestors," says Nathaniel Haw- 
thorne. So, always remember while admiring your family 
tree that it is the tree you gaze upon — and "You" may be 
a little rotten apple that has fallen to the ground. 

Bead: "Gray's Elegy of a Country Churchyard. 

Sing: "Abide with Me," from American School Songs. 

Birthdays: Thomas Gray, an English poet, born in 
Cornhill, London, England, December 26, 1716; died in 
London, July 24, 1771. 

George Dewey, an American admiral, born at Montpelier, 
Vt., December 26, 1837 ; lives in Washington, D. C. 

27 HELPFULNESS 

Do something for each other, 

Though small the help may be; 
There's comfort oft in little things, 

Far more than others see. 



DECEMBER 99 

Read : Life of Pasteur, by Rene Vallery Radot. Chap- 
ter 13 tells of the first vaccination against hydrophobia 
given to a boy of nine years. 

Birthdays: Johann Kepler, a famous German astron- 
omer, born in Wiirtemberg, Germany, December 27, 1571; 
died in Ratisbon, Germany, November 15, 1630. 

Louis Pasteur, a noted French chemist and microscopist, 
born at Dole, Jura, France, December 27, 1822; died in 
Paris, September 28, 1895. 

28 ACCOMPLISHMENT 

Whenever a task is set for you, 

Don't idly sit and view it, 
Nor be content to wish it done, 

Begin at once to do it. 

PRESIDENT WILSON'S ADVICE TO BOYS 

"I dare say you think that schoolmasters are often a 
bit hard on you in requiring you to do things in order that 
you may pass the tests of the school, but I want to warn 
you that when you get out of the school you are going to 
have harder schoolmasters than you had before. For the 
world requires that we make good, no matter what happens, 
and the man that does things amounts to a great deal more 
than the man who wishes he had done things and who 
promises he will do things. The men I am sorry for are 
the men who stop to think that they have accomplished 
something before they stop at the grave itself. You have 
got to have your second wind in this world and keep it up 
until the last minute." 

Birthday : Woodrow Wilson, an American educator and 
the twenty-eighth president of the United States, also the 
first president since the Civil War to come from the South, 
born in Staunton, Va., December 28, 1856. 



100 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

29 THE VALUE OF THINGS 

Work, and the health to do it, are the greatest bless- 
ings God gives to mankind. — Pearley 

A DIAMOND OR A COAL 

BY CHRISTINA G. ROSSETTI 

A diamond or a coal ? 

A diamond, if you please; 
Who cares about a clumsy coal 

Beneath the summer trees ? 

A diamond or a coal? 

A coal, sir, if you please ; 
One comes to care about the coal 

At times when waters freeze. 

Birthdays: Andrew Johnson, seventeenth president of 
the United States, born in Raleigh, N. C, December 29, 
1808 ; died near Elizabethtown, Tenn., July 31, 1875. 

William E. Gladstone, a famous English statesman, 
called the "Great Commoner/' born in Liverpool, England, 
December 29, 1809 ; died at his residence, Hawarden Castle, 
near Chester, May 19, 1898. 

Christina Georgina Rossetti, an English poet of Italian 
origin, born in London, England, 1830 ; died December 29, 
1894. 

30 TRUST 

God of our fathers, known of old — 
Lord of our far-flung battle line — 

Beneath whose awful hand we hold 
Dominion over palm and pine — 

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 
Lest we forget — lest we forget. 

— Rudyard Kipling 



DECEMBER 101 

THE VALUE OF A GOOD NAME 

Just as the Civil War commenced, soldiers were enlisting, 
and going away from almost every home in the land. A 
young man had volunteered, and was expecting daily to be 
ordered to the seat of war. One day his mother gave him 
an unpaid bill with the money, and asked him to pay it. 
"When he returned home at night, she said, "Did you pay 
that bill, George?"— "Yes," he answered, "I paid it." In 
a few days the bill was sent in a second time. ' ' I thought, ' ' 
said she to her son, "that you paid this." — "I really do not 
remember, mother; you know, I've so many things on my 
mind."— "But you said you paid it."— "Well," he 
answered, "if I said I paid it, I did." 

He went away to his company, and his mother went her- 
self to the store. "I am quite sure," she said to the mer- 
chant, "that my son paid this bill some days ago. He has 
been very busy since, and has quite forgotten about it, but 
he told me that he had paid it the day I gave him the 
money ; and he says, if he said then that he had paid it, he 
is quite sure that he did." — "Well," said the merchant, "I 
forgot about it ; but, if your son ever said he paid it, he did. 
I have known George all his life, and his word is as good 
with me as a receipt. ' ' 

Read: "How the Camel Got His Hump," in Just-So 
Stories, by Kipling ; ' ' The Image and the Treasure, ' ' from 
Scudder's Book of Legend; "The Story of Truth," from 
Bakewell's True Fairy Stories; "The Stolen Corn," from 
Bailey and Lewis' For the Children's Hour. 

Birthdays: George Gordon Meade, "The Victor of 
Gettysburg, ' ' born in Cadiz, Spain, where his father at the 
time was United States consul, December 30, 1815 ; died in 
Philadelphia, Pa., November 6, 1872. 

Eudyard Kipling, an English writer of stories, novels, 
and poems, born in Bombay, India, December 30, 1865. 



102 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

31 NEW YEAE'S EVE 

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky 
The flying cloud, the frosty light: 
The year is dying in the night; 
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 

Ring out the old, ring in the new, 

Ring, happy bells, across the snow: 

The year is going, let him go; 

Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

— From "In Memoriam," by Alfred Lord Tennyson. 



■': *!•■ 



JANUARY 



1 NEW YEAE'S DAY 

Every day is a fresh beginning, 
Every morn is the world made new, 

Only the new days are our own; 
To-day is ours and to-day alone. 

— Susan Coolidge 

NEW YEAR'S DAY CUSTOMS 

The custom of celebrating the first day of the year is a 
very ancient one. The exchange of gifts, the paying of 
calls, the making of good resolutions for the new year and 
feasting often characterize the day. The custom of ringing 
the church bells and the blowing of horns is of the widest 
extent. 

The old-world custom of sitting up on New Year's night 
to see the old year out is still very common. 

Read: "A Chinese New Year's in California," from 
Our Holidays: Retold from St. Nicholas; "Paul Revere 's 
Ride," by Longfellow. 

Sing: "January," from Songs in Season. 

Birthdays : Edmund Burke, a famous British statesman 
and writer, born in Dublin, Ireland, January 1, 1730 ; died 
at Beaconsfield, England, July 9, 1797. 

Paul Revere, an American patriot, born in Boston, Mass., 
January 1, 1735 ; died in Boston, May 10, 1818. 

Anthony Wayne, an American general in the Revolution, 
born at Waynesborough, Pa., January 1, 1745; died in 
Presque Isle, December 14, 1796. 



104 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

2 WHAT SHALL THE NEW YEAR BE? 

A glad New Year or a sad New Year; 

what shall the New Year be? 
I cannot tell what it hath in store, 

1 would that I might foresee; 

But God knows well and I need no more; 
Is that not enough for me? 

— Selected 

Read : ' c New Year 's Message, ' ' from Proudfoot 's Child's 
Christ Tales. 

Birthday: James Wolfe, an English general, born at 
Westerham, Kent, England, January 2, 1726; died Sep- 
tember 13, 1759. 

3 FAITHFUL TO TKUST 

To thine own self be true; 
And it must follow as night the day, 
Thou can'st not then be false to any man. 
— Shakespeare 

A CRUEL BOY ALMOST SURE TO MAKE A CRUEL 

MAN 

There was once a boy who loved to give pain to every- 
thing that came in his way, over which he could gain any 
power. He would take eggs from the mourning robin, and 
torture the unfledged sparrow, cats and dogs, the peaceable 
cow and the faithful horse ; he delighted to worry and dis- 
tress. I do not like to tell you the many cruel things that 
he did. He was told that such things were wrong. An 
excellent lady with whom he lived used to warn and reprove 
him for his evil conduct — but he did not reform. When 
he grew up he became a soldier. He was never sorry to 
see men wounded, and blood running upon the earth. He 
became so wicked that he laid a plan to betray his country, 
and to sell it into the hands of the enemy. This is to be 
a traitor. But he was discovered and fled. He never dared 
to return to his native land, but lived despised and died 



JANUARY 105 

miserably in a foreign clime. Such was the end of the 
cruel boy, who loved to give pain to animals. He was 
born at Norwich, Conn., and the beautiful city of his birth 
is ashamed of his memory. His name was Benedict Arnold. 

— The Spirit of Humanity 

Birthdays: Benedict Arnold, an American general and 
traitor, born in Norwich, Conn., January 3, 1740; died in 
London, England, June 14, 1801. 

Larkin Goldsmith Mead, an American sculptor, born at 
Chesterfield, N. H., January 3, 1835; died in Florence, 
Italy, October 15, 1910. 

4 WOEK AND PLAY 

Work while you work, 
Play while you play, 
That is the way 
To be cheerful and gay. 

Sing: "Work and Play," from Kellogg 's Best Primary 
Songs. 

5 IDLENESS 

He is not only idle who does nothing, but he is idle 
who might be better employed. — Socrates 

THE VOICE OP NATURE 

Among the disciples of Hillel, the wise teacher of the 
sons of Israel, was one named Saboth, whom every kind of 
labor displeased, so that he gave himself up to idleness and 
sloth. Hillel was grieved for the youth, and resolved to 
reform him. To this end he conducted him out one day to 
the valley of Hinnon, near Jerusalem. 

Here there was a large pool of stagnant water, full of 
reptiles and vermin, and covered with slimy weeds. When 
they reached the valley, Hillel laid aside his staff, and said : 
* ' Here we will rest from our journey. ' ' But the youth was 



106 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

astonished, and said: "What! master; by this loathsome 
swamp ? Do you not perceive what a poisonous odor arises 
from it?" 

"Thou art right, my son," answered the teacher. "This 
swamp is like the soul of the idler. Who would remain in 
its vicinity?" Thereupon Hillel conducted the youth to 
a desolate field, in which grew only thorns and thistles, 
which choked the corn, and the wholesome plants. 

Then Hillel leaned upon his staff and said: "Behold, 
this field has a fruitful soil, to bring forth all things agree- 
able and useful ! But it has been forgotten and neglected. 
So it now produces stinging thistles, and thorns, and poison- 
ous plants; and among them nestle snakes and moles. 
Before thou sawest the soul; now recognize the life of the 
idler. ' ' — Adapted 

Sing: "What Kind of Boys," from Kellogg 's Best 
Primary Songs. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Florida. (See Arbor Day, 
April 19 and 20, this book.) 

6 LOYALTY 

To all the world I give my hand; 
My heart I give my native land, 

I seek her good, her glory; 
I honor every nation's name, 
Respect their fortune and their fame, 

But love the land that bore me. 
— Selected 

JOAN OF ARC 

Joan op Arc was the daughter of poor peasants and in 
her girlhood was a servant in a tavern. France was then 
at war with England and the whole country was in great 
trouble. Joan used to listen to the talk of the travelers, and 
think a great deal about the misfortunes of her country. 
She longed to do something to help the king, and by and 



JANUARY 107 

by she fancied that she had visions from heaven, and heard 
voices telling her that she must save the nation. This idea 
took such hold of her that at last she made the people 
believe that God had really sent her to do a great work. 
The king, Charles VII, consented to let her lead the soldiers 
in an attack upon the English at the siege of Orleans ; and 
she did it so well that the English were beaten and driven 
out of the town. 

After Charles was crowned at Rheims, Joan wanted to 
go home, for she thought her work was ended. But there 
were more battles to fight, and everybody now believed that 
wherever she went she would bring victory for the French 
army. So they would not let her go ; and in the end poor 
Joan was taken prisoner by the enemy, after an unsuccess- 
ful battle, and burnt for a witch in the marketplace of 
Rouen, May 31, 1431. All the world has honored her since 
her death, and statues have been raised to her memory. 

Birthdays: Joan of Arc (French: Jeanne d'Arc), called 
also the "Maid of Orleans," born at Domremy, Lorraine, 
France, January 6, 1412 ; burnt for a witch in the market- 
place of Rouen, France, May 31, 1431. 

Charles Sumner, an American statesman, born in Bos- 
ton, Mass., January 6, 1811; died in Washington, D. C, 
March 11, 1874. 

7 PATRIOTISM 

Let little hands bring blossoms sweet, 

To brave men lying low; 
Let little hearts to soldiers dead 

Their love and honor show. 
We'll love the flag they loved so well, 

The dear old banner bright, 
We'll love the land for which they fell, 

With soul, and strength, and might ! 

— -8. M. Kneil 

Learn: "A Salute to the Flag/' by Charles Sumner. 
Read : Whittier 's ' ' Barbara Frietchie. ' ' Tell the story 



108 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

of the Battle of Bunker Hill and of Putnam's part in it. 

Sing: " Proud Flag of the Free," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: Israel Putnam, an American general, born 
at Salem, Mass., January 7, 1718 ; died at Brooklyn, Conn., 
May 19, 1790. 

Millard Fillmore, thirteenth president of the United 
States, born in Cayuga Co., N. Y., January 7, 1800 ; died in 
Buffalo, N. Y., March 8, 1874. 

8 CHEERFULNESS 

Keep a smile on your lips: it is better 

To joyfully, hopefully try 
For the end you would gain than to fetter 

Your life with a moan and a sigh. 
There are clouds in the firmament ever 

The beauty of heaven to mar, 
Yet night so profound there is never 

But somewhere is shining a star. 

Keep a song in your heart; it will lighten 

The duties that come to your hand; 
Its music will graciously brighten 

The work that the builder has planned. 
Its notes to the lives that are saddened 

May make them hopefully yearn, 
And yours shall be wondrously gladdened 

By songs they shall sing in return. 

— Nixon Waterman 

Sing: "The Happy Farmer,' ' from Songs Every One 
Should Know. 

Birthdays : Robert Schumann, a German writer of music, 
born in Zwickan, Saxony, Germany, January 8, 1810 ; died 
near Bonn, Germany, July 29, 1856. 

James Longstreet, a noted Confederate general in the 
Civil War, born in Edgefield, S. C, January 8, 1821 ; died 
near Gainesville, Ga., January 2, 1904. 

Special Day : Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, 
celebrated in Louisiana. 



JANUARY 109 

9 PERSEVEKANCE 

In the lexicon of youth which fate reserves for a 
bright manhood, there is no such word as fail. — Lytton 

10 LOYALTY 

Such is the patriot's boast, where'er we roam, 
His first, best country ever is at home. 

— Goldsmith 

ETHAN ALLEN AND THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS 

Ethan Allen was born in Litchfield, Conn., January 10, 
1738. When a boy his parents emigrated to Salisbury, 
where most of his youth was spent, and in 1765 he emigrated 
to what was then called the "New Hampshire Grants," 
now the State of Vermont. This was then claimed by both 
New Hampshire and New York, and the settlers there 
formed themselves into a company called ' i Green Mountain 
Boys," to protect their interests, and chose Ethan Allen 
for their leader. Soon after the fight at Lexington (1775), 
he marched against Fort Ticonderoga and captured it. 

In September of the same year Allen was captured by 
the British while on an expedition against Montreal, and 
carried to England in irons. After being kept a prisoner 
for two and one-half years, he was exchanged for a British 
colonel. The English who admired his courage, tried to 
bribe him to take their side. Once, in New York, an officer 
told him that his faithfulness had won General Howe's 
good opinion, and that if he would join King George's 
army he would be given a good position, and would be re- 
warded after the war with large estates in Vermont or 
Connecticut. Allen told him that he was so much obliged 
to General Howe for his opinion that he would not lose it 
by turning traitor. "As to the offer of lands," said he, 
"that is much like a similar offer once made by Satan to 
Christ of all the kingdoms of earth, when in fact the old 
devil didn't own an acre." 



HO MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Sing: "The Flag of Our Union, Forever!" from Uncle 
Sam's School Songs. 

Birthday: Ethan Allen, an American officer in the 
Revolution, born in Litchfield, Conn., January 10, 1738; 
died near Colchester, Vt., February 13, 1789. Leader of 
the ' ' Green Mountain Boys. ' ' 

11 PATKIOTISM 

Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just, 

And this be our motto — In God is our trust: 

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave 

O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave. 

— From "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Francis Scott Key 

THE STAR-SPANGLED BANNER 

To-day is the birthday of Francis Scott Key, the author 
of "The Star-Spangled Banner." This song of national 
and undying fame was written under conditions so thrilling 
as to inspire the author with graphic power. In was born 
of interest and patriotism during a conflict when the flag 
was in danger, and was written by Francis Scott Key, a 
young lawyer of Baltimore, during the war of 1812. Under 
a flag of truce he paid a visit to a British fleet off Balti- 
more, for the purpose of obtaining the release of a friend 
(Dr. Beans) who was being held prisoner. On the same 
day the bombardment of Fort McHenry began, and fearing 
he might reveal their plans, the British would not permit 
the visitor to return ashore. All through the night he re- 
mained upon deck with Dr. Beans and in the light of the 
bursting shells they could see the American flag still 
waving over the old fort. And when in the first rays of 
the dawn he still beheld the glorious banner waving from 
its accustomed place Francis Scott Key wrote that won- 
derful song, The Star-Spangled Banner, upon the back 
of a letter. 

The attack on Baltimore had failed, and the next day Mr. 



JANUARY HI 

Key was permitted to return to the city. In his room at 
the hotel he finished and perfected the famous poem, which 
was first printed in a Baltimore newspaper. 

' Sing: "The Star-Spangled Banner.' ' 

Birthdays: Alexander Hamilton, a famous American 
statesman, born in the island of Nevis, West Indies, Jan- 
uary 11, 1757; died at Weehawken, N. J., July 12, 1804. 

Francis Scott Key, author of "The Star-Spangled Ban- 
ner/ ' born in Frederick County, Md., August 1, 1779 ; died 
in Baltimore, January 11, 1843. 

Bayard Taylor, an American author, born at Kennett 
Square, Chester County, Pa., January 11, 1825; died in 
Berlin, Germany, December 19, 1878. 

12 INDEPENDENCE 

Let independence be our boast, 
Ever mindful what it cost; 
Ever grateful for the prize, 
Let its altar reach the skies! 

— Joseph Hopkinson 

Learn: "The Declaration of Independence.' ' 

Sing : ' ' America. ' ' 

Birthdays: Charles Perrault, a French writer, born in 
Paris, January 12, 1628; died in Paris, May 16, 1703. 
Wrote Cinderella, Bluebeard, Little Bed Biding Hood, Puss 
in Boots, Hop o ' My Thumb, etc. 

John Hancock, a noted American statesman, and the 
first signer of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 
1774, born in Quincy, Mass., January 12, 1737; died at 
Quincy, October 8, 1793. 

Jack London, an American author, born in San Fran- 
cisco, Cal., January 12, 1876 ; lives at Glen Ellen, Cal. 

13 CHARACTER 

Character, like porcelain, must be painted before it is 
glazed. There can be no change when it is burnt in. 

— Henry Ward Beecher 



112 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

CARVING A NAME 

BY HORATIO ALGER 

I wrote my name upon the sand, 
And trusted it would stand for aye; 

But soon, alas ; the refluent sea 
Had washed my feeble lines away. 

I carved my name upon the wood, 

And, after years, returned again; 
I missed the shadow of the tree 

That stretched of old upon the plain. 

To solid marble next my name 

I gave as a perpetual trust ; 
An earthquake rent it to its base, 

And now it lies o'erlaid with dust. 

All these have failed. In wiser mood 
I turn and ask myself, ' ' What then ? 

If I would have my name endure, 
I '11 write it on the hearts of men. 

1 ' ' In characters of living light, 

From kindly words and actions wrought; 

And these, beyond the reach of time, 
Shall live immortal as my thought. ' ' ' 

Sing: "The Old Oaken Bucket," from Songs Every 
One Should Know; "My Old Kentucky Home" and 
"Swanee River," from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays: Samuel Woodworth, an American writer, 
born in Scituate, Mass., January 13, 1785; died in New 
York City, December 9, 1842. Best known as the author of 
the song "The Old Oaken Bucket." 

Stephen C. Foster, an American writer of songs, born in 
Pittsburgh, Pa., July 4, 1826 ; died in New York City, Jan- 



JANUARY H3 

uary 13, 1864. Composer of "My Old Kentucky Home," 
"Old Folks at Home," and many other popular songs. 

Horatio Alger, an American writer, born at Revere, 
Mass., January 13, 1834; died at Natick, Mass., July 18, 
1899. 

14 THE SNOW 

The snow had begun in the gloaming, 

And busily all the night 
Had been heaping field and highway, 

With a silence deep and white. 

Every pine, and fir and hemlock, 

Wore ermine too dear for an earl, 
And the poorest twig on the elm tree 

Was ridged inch deep with pearl. 

— James Russell Lowell 

Sing: "The Silently Falling Snow," from Kellogg 's 
Best Primary Songs. 

Birthday : Lewis Carroll, the pen-name of Rev. Charles 
Lutwidge Dodgson, when he wrote for young folks, an Eng- 
lish clergyman and writer, born in 1832 ; died January 14, 
1898. Best known for his Alice's Adventures in Wonder- 
land. 

15 NOBLENESS 

Be noble! and the nobleness that lies 
In other men, sleeping but never dead, 
Will rise in majesty to meet thine own. 

— Lowell 

Learn : ' l Nobility, ' ' by Alice Cary. 
Read: Bible, Matt. 7 : 24-27. 

Sing: "Onward, Christian Soldiers," from American 
School Songs. 

16 HABIT 

We sleep, but the loom of life never stops; and the 
pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is 
weaving when it comes up to-morrow. — Beecher 



114 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

17 OPPOETUNITY 

Lost time is never found again, and what we call 
time enough, always proves little enough. 

— Benjamin Franklin 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

BY T. W. HIGGINSON 

One of the Americans who rendered the greatest services 
to the liberty of their country was Dr. Benjamin Franklin. 
He was born in Boston, January 17, 1706, and was the 
son of a poor tallow chandler. When a boy, he learned the 
printer's trade; at seventeen he left home, and established 
himself in Philadelphia. 

He and a young partner began business with no capital, 
and felt very grateful to a friend whom they met in the 
street and who gave them a five-shilling job. Afterward 
they set up a newspaper, and published an almanac called 
"Poor Richard's Almanac," which had a great circulation. 
They also dealt in all sorts of small wares — rags, ink, soap, 
feathers, and coffee. 

Franklin was a great reader, and a great student of 
science, and especially of electricity. He formed the theory 
that lightning and the electrical fluid are the same thing. 
This he said in a pamphlet, and some readers thought it 
a very absurd view. Then he resolved to prove it. He and 
his young son made a great kite of a silk handkerchief, 
fastened a piece of sharpened wire to the stick, and went 
out to fly the kite in a thunder-storm. 

As the low thundercloud passed, the electric fluid came 
down the string of the kite. "When Franklin touched a 
key that he had fastened to the string, his knuckles drew 
sparks from it, and proved that there was electricity there. 
This led him to invent the lightning rod, which is now in 
almost universal use. This discovery at once made him 
very famous in Europe, as well as in America. 



JANUARY 115 

He was afterward sent to England on a public mission, 
and remained there till the outbreak of the Revolution. 
Returning to America, he was one of the framers and 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was sent to 
France as ambassador, and aided in making the treaty with 
France which secured the independence of the American 
colonies. 

He was a man of the greatest activity, public spirit, and 
wit. He exercised great influence in all public affairs, and 
founded more good institutions and benevolent enterprises 
than any other American of his time. His last public act 
was to sign a memorial to Congress in behalf of the Phila- 
delphia Antislavery Society, of which he was president, ask- 
ing the abolition of slavery. 

He lived to the age of eighty-four, dying in 1790. The 
whole nation mourned when he died. 

Birthday: Benjamin Franklin, a famous American 
philosopher and statesman, born in Boston, Mass., Janu- 
ary 17, 1706 ; died in Philadelphia, Pa., April 17, 1790. 

18 KEEPING YOUE WORD 

One may live as a conqueror, a king, or magistrate; 
but he must die as a man. — Webster 

BLUCHER AT WATERLOO 

When Blucher was hastening over bad roads to help 
Wellington at Waterloo; his troops faltered. "It can't be 
done ! ' ' said they. 

"It must be done/' was Blucher 's reply. "I have 
promised to be there, promised, do you hear ? You wouldn 't 
have me break my word ? ' ' And it was done. 

Read : Daniel Webster 's ' ' Bunker Hill Oration ; ' ' Bible, 
Matt. 13 : 3-9. 

Sing : ' ' Uncle Sam 's Wedding, ' ' from Merry Melodies. 
Birthday: Daniel Webster, a famous American states- 



116 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

man, born in Salisbury (now Franklin), N. H., January 

18, 1782; died at his farm in Marshfield, Mass., October 
24, 1852. 

19 EDUCATION 

Every man must educate himself. His books and 
teacher are but helps; the work is his. — Webster 

JAMES WATT 

About one hundred and fifty years ago, a little boy who 
lived at Greenock, Scotland, and whose name was James 
Watt, sat one day looking at a kettle of boiling water, and 
holding a spoon against the steam that rushed out of the 
spout. 

His aunt, thinking him idle, said, " James, is it not a 
great shame for you to waste your time playing with the 
kettle?" But James was really not idle. He was observ- 
ing the power of steam. 

James grew to be a great and good man, and he developed 
the steam engine which is so useful to us to-day. So, be- 
cause he was a close observer, the little boy playing with 
the kettle has given us the steam engine which to-day 
propels great ships across the ocean, hauls long trains of 
passenger and freight cars quickly across the country, and 
turns the great wheels that drive the heavy machinery in 
our great factories and mills. 

Read: "The Landing of the Pilgrims," by Felicia 
Hemans, and show in connection Boughton's pictures. 

Birthdays : James Watt, the inventor or rather improver 
of the steam engine, born in Greenock, Scotland, January 

19, 1736; died at Heathfield, near Birmingham, England, 
August 25, 1819. 

Robert E. Lee, a famous American general, born in Vir- 
ginia, January 19, 1807; died at Lexington, Va., October 
12, 1870. 



JANUARY 117 

Sir Henry Bessemer, an English engineer and founder 
of Bessemer steel, born at Charlton, Hertfordshire, Eng- 
land, January 19, 1813. 

George H. Boughton, an English painter, born in Nor- 
folk, in 1834 ; died at Campden Hill, January 19, 1905. 

David Starr Jordan, an American educator, born at 
Gainesville, N. Y., January 19, 1851; president of Leland 
Stanford Junior University, Palo Alto, California. 

20 HONESTY 

There is only one failure in life possible, and that is 
not to be true to the best one knows. — Farrar 

Birthdays: Richard Henry Lee, a famous American 
statesman, born at Stratford, Westmoreland County, Va., 
January 20, 1732 ; died in Westmoreland County, June 19, 
1794. 

Eobert Morris, an American statesman and a signer of 
the Declaration of Independence, born at Lancashire, Eng- 
land, January 20, 1734; died in Philadelphia, Pa., May 8, 
1806. 

Nathaniel Parker Willis, an American writer, born in 
Portland, Me., January 20, 1806; died at his place called 
"Idlewild," near Newburgh, N. Y., January 21, 1867. 

21 FORGIVENESS 

So are great deeds as natural to great men 
As mean things are to small ones. 

— George MacDonald 

LOVE YOUR ENEMIES 

Angry looks can do no good, 

And blows are dealt in blindness ; 

Words are better understood, 
If spoken but in kindness. 



118 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Simple love far more hath wrought, 

Although by childhood muttered, 
Than all the battles ever fought, 

Or oaths that men have uttered. 

Friendship oft would longer last, 

And quarrels be prevented, 
If little words were let go past — 

Forgiven, not resented. 

Foolish things are frowns and sneers, 

For angry thoughts reveal them ; 
Rather drown them all in tears, 

Than let another feel them. 

Tell the story of the Prodigal Son, Bible, Matt. 18; 
read Matt. 5 : 44. 

Sing: "The Lord My Shepherd Is," from American 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: John C. Fremont, a noted American ex- 
plorer and general, sometimes called the " Pathfinder, ' ' 
born in Savannah, Ga., January 21, 1813; died in New 
York City, July 13, 1890. 

Thomas J. (Stonewall) Jackson, an American Confed- 
erate general, born in Clarksburg, Va., January 21, 1824; 
died near Fredericksburg, Va., May 10, 1863. 

22 WISDOM 

Reading maketh a full man; conference, a ready man; 
and writing, an exact man. — Francis Bacon 

EXPERIENCE 

A mule, a fox, and a lion were out walking together. 
They found a big piece of meat. The lion said to the mule : 
"You may divide the meat; you always share it so well." 
The mule divided the meat into three equal pieces and gave 



JANUARY 119 

a piece to each. The lion was so angry that he killed the 
mule. Then he told the fox to share the meat. 

The fox gave all the meat to the lion. The lion was 
pleased. 

"How did you learn to share so well?" asked he. 

' ' The dead mule taught me how, ' ' said the fox. 

Eead: ''Odin's Search for Wisdom," from Mabie's 
Norse Stories. 

Birthdays: Francis Bacon, an English philosopher and 
statesman, born in London, England, January 22, 1561 ; 
died at Highgate, England, April 9, 1626. Called by Pope, 
the poet "The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind." 

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, a noted German writer, born 
in Saxony, Germany, January 22, 1729; died in Bruns- 
wick, Germany, February 15, 1781. 

George Gordon (Lord) Byron, a famous English poet, 
born in London, England, January 22, 1788; died at 
Missolonghi, Greece, April 19, 1824. 

23 LOVE AND TRUTH 

He liveth long, who liveth well, 

All else is life but flung away; 
He liveth longest who can tell 

Of true things truly done each day. 

24 PERSISTENCE 

Many strokes, though with a little ax, 
Hew down and fell the hardest timbered oaks. 

— Shakespeare 

Birthdays: Charles H. Niehaus, an American sculptor, 
born in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 24, 1855; lives in New 
York City. 

Beatrice Harraden, an English novelist, born at Hamp- 
stead, England, January 24, 1864; lives in London, 
England. 



120 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

25 PLEASURES 

Pleasures are like poppies spread; 
You seize the flower, the bloom is shed; 
Or like the snowflake in the river, 
A moment white, then lost forever. 

— Robert Bums 

ADVICE OF ROBBY BURNS' FATHER 

In Robert Burns' own words, this is the advice which 
his father gave him and which he never forgot : 
He bade me act a manly part, though I had ne'er a farthing, 
For without an honest manly heart no man was worth regarding. 

Read: "To a Field Mouse" and "For A' That," by 
Robert Burns. A short biography of Burns will be found 
in the New Era Fifth Reader. 

Sing: "Auld Lang Syne" and "Flow Gently, Sweet 
Afton," from Hanson's Gems of Song. 

Birthdays : Robert Burns, the national poet of Scotland, 
born near Ayr, Scotland, January 25, 1759 ; died at Dum- 
fries, Scotland, July 21, 1796. 

Louise de la Ramee (Ouida), an English novelist, born 
at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England, in 1839; died at 
Villareggio, Italy, January 25, 1908. 

26 REMEMBRANCE 

There is a pretty little flower, 

Of sky-blue tint and white, 
That glitters in the sunshine 

And goes to sleep at night. 
'Tis a token of remembrance, 

And a pretty name it's got; 
Would you know it if I told you? 

'Tis the sweet Forget-me-not. 

27 MUSIC 

Music hath charms to sooth a savage breast, 
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak. 

— Congreve 



JANUARY 121 

A BOY WHO BECAME FAMOUS 

A boy only six years old was sailing with his father down 
the Danube. All day long they had been sailing past 
crumbling ruins, frowning castles, cloisters hidden away 
among the crags, towering cliffs, quiet villages nestled in 
sunny valleys, and here and there a deep gorge that opened 
back from the gliding river. They stopped at night at a 
cloister, and the father took little Wolfgang into the chapel 
to see the organ. It was the first large organ he had ever 
seen, and his face lit up with delight, and every motion 
and attitude of his figure expressed a wondering reverence. 

I 'Father," said the boy, "let me play." Well pleased, 
the father complied. Then Wolfgang pushed aside the 
stool, and, when his father had filled the great bellows, the 
elfin organist stood upon the pedals. How the deep tones 
woke the somber stillness of the old church! The organ 
seemed some great, uncouth creature roaring for very joy 
at the caresses of the marvelous child. 

The monks, eating their supper in the refectory, heard 
it, and dropped knife and fork in astonishment. The 
organist of the brotherhood was among them, but never 
had he played with such power. They listened; some 
crossed themselves ; till the prior rose up and hastened into 
the chapel. The others followed; but when they looked 
up into the organ-loft, lo ! there was no organist to be seen, 
though the deep tones still massed themselves in new har- 
monies, and made the stone arches thrill with their power. 

I I It is the devil ! ' ' cried one of the monks, drawing closer 
to his companions, and giving a scared look over his shoulder 
at the darkness of the aisle. " It is a miracle ! ' ' said another. 
But when the boldest of them mounted the stairs to the 
organ-loft, he stood as if petrified with amazement. There 
was the tiny figure treading from pedal to pedal, and at 
the same time clutching at the keys above with his little 
hands. He heard nothing, saw nothing, besides; his eyes 



122 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

beamed, and his whole face was lighted up with joy. Louder 
and fuller rose the harmonies, streaming forth in swelling 
billows, till at last they seemed to reach a sunny shore on 
which they broke ; and then a whispering ripple of faintest 
melody lingered a moment in the air, like the last murmur 
of a wind harp, and all was still. 
The boy was Wolfgang Mozart. 

Birthday : "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a famous German 
writer of music, born in Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 
1756 ; died in Vienna, Austria, December 5, 1791. 

28 KINDNESS 

Be kind and gentle to those who are old, 
For kindness is dearer and better than gold. 

WELLINGTON AND THE TOAD 

The Duke of Wellington was a very kind man. Once 
when walking in his garden he saw a boy playing with a 
toad. "What are you doing?" he asked. 

a Iam feeding my toad," said the boy. "My father is 
going to send me to school, and I am afraid my toad will 
die." 

"Go to school, my boy," said the duke, "and I will 
take care of your toad. ' ' 

He afterward wrote to the boy at school, to tell him 
that the toad was quite well. 

Bead: "The Grateful Foxes," from Cooke's Nature 
Myths and Stories; Bible, Matt. 7 : 12. 

Sing: "Speak Softly, Gently," from Hanson's Gems of 
Song. 

Birthdays: Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, an Amer- 
ican writer, born at Andover, Mass., August 13, 1844; died 
in Newton Center, Mass., January 28, 1911. 

Samuel Chester Reid, an American naval officer, born in 



JANUARY 123 

Norwich, Conn., August 25, 1773 ; died in New York City, 
January 28, 1861. (In 1818 Captain Reid suggested the 
present plan of the United States flag, with thirteen stripes 
instead of fifteen, and an additional star for each new 
state. In 1859 Congress passed a vote of thanks to him 
as the designer of the flag.) 

29 CHARACTER 

Character is what God and the angels know of us; 
reputation is what men and women think of us. 

— Horace Mann 

Birthdays: William McKinley, twenty-fifth president 
of the United States, born at Niles, Ohio, January 29, 1844 ; 
shot by an assassin in Buffalo, N. Y., September 6 and died 
September 14, 1901. 

Henry Lee (Light Horse Harry, as he was called and the 
father of Gen. Robert E. Lee), a noted American general, 
born in Virginia, January 29, 1756; died at Cumberland 
Island, Ga., March 25, 1818. (When Washington died 
Henry Lee was chosen by Congress to write an eulogy on 
him; in it occur the famous words, "First in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. ,, ) 

30 GOLDEN DEEDS 

As one lamp lights another nor grows less, 
So nobleness enkindleth nobleness. 

— From "Yussouf" by Lowell 

INFLUENCE OF GOOD DEEDS AND WORDS 

BY CHARLES MACKAY 

A traveler through a dusty road, 

Strewed acorns on the lea; 
And one took root and sprouted up, 

And grew into a tree. 
Love sought its shade, at evening time, 



124 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

To breathe its early vows; 
And Age was pleased, in heats of noon, 

To bask beneath its boughs: 
The dormouse loved its dangling twigs, 

The birds sweet music bore ; 
It stood, a glory in its place, 

A blessing evermore! 

A little spring had lost its way 

Amid the grass and fern, 
A passing stranger scooped a well, 

Where weary men might turn; 
He walled it in, and hung with care 

A ladle at the brink; 
He thought not of the deed he did, 

But judged that toil might drink. 
He passed again, — and, lo ! the well, 

By summers never dried, 
Had cooled ten thousand parching tongues, 

And saved a life beside ! 

A dreamer dropped a random thought, 
'Twas old, and yet was new, 
A simple fancy of the brain, 

But strong in being true; 
It shone upon a genial mind, 

And, lo! its light became 
A lamp of life, a beacon ray, 

A monitory flame: 
The thought was small ; its issue great, 

A watch-fire on the hill; 
It sheds its radiance far adown, 

And cheers the valley still! 

A nameless man amid a crowd 
That thronged the daily mart, 



JANUARY 125 

Let fall a word of Hope and Love, 

Unstudied from the heart; 
A whisper on the tumult thrown, — 

A transitory breath, — 
It raised a brother from the dust, 

It saved a soul from death. 
germ! fount! word of love! 

O thought at random cast ! 
Ye were but little, at the first, 

But mighty, at the last ! 

31 LIBBABYDAY 

We should make the same use of books that the bee 
does of a flower; he gathers sweets from it, but does 
not injure it. 

A LITTLE GIRL'S IDEAL PARTY 

BY ISABEL YEOMANS BROWN 

I'd like to give a party some lovely summer day, 

When the air is warm and fragrant with the scent of new- 
mown hay, 

When song-birds warbling blithely and brooklets running 
free 

And busy little insects all join in minstrelsy. 

And who would be invited ? First, that thoughtful little boy 
With the heart so sweet and loving — I mean Lord Faunt- 

leroy ; 
Juanita and her brother; kind little Sara Crewe, 
And Dorothy and Donald and a host of others too. 

Yes, all the story people— " Little Women," "Little Men;" 
And all Miss Alcott's people — the children of her pen. 
And when it came to parting I'm sure we'd all agree 
We had ne 'er before attended such a pleasant company. 



126 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Read: "The Book," in Forman's Stories of Useful In- 
ventions; "The First Printer' ' in Baldwin's Thirty More 
Famous Stories Retold; "The Printing Press," in Mowry's 
American Inventions and Inventors. 

Sing: "Come, Come, Come, ' ' from Kellogg 's Best 
Primary Songs; "Let's Higher Climb," from Uncle Sam f s 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: Franz Schubert, a celebrated German 
musician, born near Vienna, Austria, January 31, 1797; 
died November 19, 1828. 

James G. Blaine, an American statesman; born at West 
Brownsville, Pa., January 31, 1830 ; died January 27, 1893. 



FEBRUARY 



1 KNOWLEDGE 

If we do not plant knowledge when young, it will give 
us no shade when we are old. — Lord Chesterfield 

HOW ABRAHAM LINCOLN TAUGHT HIMSELF 

When Abraham Lincoln was young he had not the 
chance which the boys and girls of to-day have of attending 
school. But he was very anxious to learn, and wherever 
he was, at every chance he could get, he was reading or 
studying. 

In the winter evenings he sat in the chimney-corner and 
ciphered on the wooden fire-shovel, by the light of the 
blazing logs. When the shovel was covered with figures, he 
would shave them off with his father's knife and begin 
again. 

"He read every book he could lay hands on," said his 
step-mother ; and when he came across a passage that struck 
him, he would write it on boards, if he had no paper, and 
keep it there until he was so fortunate as to get some 
paper. Then he would look at it, write it, and repeat it 
until he committed it to memory. 

Birthday : David Porter, an American naval commander, 
born in Boston, Mass., February 1, 1780; died in Con- 
stantinople, Turkey, March 28, 1843. 

2 A WONDERFUL WEAVER 

There's a wonderful weaver 

High up in the air, 
And he weaves a white mantle 

For cold earth to wear. 



128 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

With the wind for his shuttle, 

The cloud for his loom, 
How he weaves, how he weaves, 

In the light, in the gloom. 
— From "A Wonderful Weaver," by George Cooper 

3 COMPANY 

Birds of a feather flock together. — B. Burton 

BAD COMPANY 

A farmer's corn was destroyed by cranes that fed in 
his field. Greatly annoyed, he declared that he would find 
a way out of the trouble. A net was set in which the 
cranes were snared. There was also a beautiful stork 
among them who had been visiting with the cranes, and had 
come to them from a neighboring roof. 

' ' Spare me, ' ' pleaded the stork. "lam innocent ; indeed 
I am. I never touched any of your belongings. ' ' 

"That may be true," answered the farmer; "but I find 
you among thieves and I judge you accordingly." 

The only safe way is to keep out of bad company. 

Eead: "Good and Bad Apples," from Scudder's 
Stories From My Attic. 

Birthdays: Albert Sidney Johnston, an American 
soldier, born at Washington, Ky., February 3, 1803 ; killed 
at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862. 

Joseph Eccleston Johnston, an American general, born 
in Prince Edward County, Va., February 3, 1807; died in 
Washington, D. C, March 21, 1891. 

Felix Mendelssohn, a famous German musician, born in 
Hamburg, Germany, February 3, 1809; died in Leipsic, 
Germany, November 4, 1847. 

Horace Greeley, a noted American writer, born at Am- 
herst, N. H., February 3, 1811 ; died November 29, 1872. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Arizona (Friday following 
first day of February or April). (See Arbor Day, April 19 
and 20, this book.) 



FEBRUARY 129 

4 COURTESY 

To be polite is to do and say 

The kindest things in the kindest way. 

THE READY ANSWER 

A very wealthy man, arriving in Boston, was met by a 
dirty-faced boy, who was shouting: "Morning paper, two 
cents!" 

The man bought a paper and gave the boy in payment 
a five-cent piece. While the boy was getting the change, the 
man said, "Keep the three cents and buy a cake of soap 
with which to wash your face." 

The boy had by this time found the money, which he 
handed to the man, saying: "Take the money and buy a 
book on politeness." 

The man was very much ashamed of himself and hurried 
away, while those near by smiled at the boy 's ready answer. 

Read : "For the Little Boy Who Will Not Say Please," 
from Burt's Stories from Plato. 

5 PERSEVEEANCE 

The fisher who draws in his net too soon 

Won't have any fish to sell; 
The child who shuts up his book too soon 

Won't learn any lessons well. 

— Ibid 

Read: "Bernard of Tuileries" and "A Tribune of the 
People," from Marden's Stories from Life; Bible, Luke 
9:62. 

Sing: "In Life's Morning," from School Song Knap- 
sack. 

Birthdays : Ole Borneman Bull, a noted Norwegian vio- 
linist, born at Bergen, Norway, February 5, 1810; died 
August 17, 1880. 

Dwight Lyman Moody, an American revival preacher, 



130 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

born at Northfield, Mass., February 5, 1837 ; died at East 
Northfield, December 22, 1899. 

6 COURAGE 

I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do 
more is none. — Shakespeare 

TEN THINGS TO REMEMBER 

There are ten things for which no one has ever yet been 
sorry. These are: For doing good to all; for speaking 
evil of none; for hearing before judging; for thinking 
before speaking; for holding an angry tongue; for being 
kind to the distressed; for asking pardon for all wrongs; 
for being patient towards everybody ; for stopping the ears 
to a talebearer; for disbelieving most of the ill reports. 

— Selected 

Birthday: Sir Henry Irving, a noted English actor, 
born at Keinton, England, February 6, 1838 ; died at Brad- 
ford, England, October 13, 1905. [His real name was John 
Henry Brodribb.] 

7 SUCCESS 

It is when onr budding hopes are nipped beyond re- 
covery by some rough wind, that we are the most 
disposed to picture to ourselves what flowers they might 
have borne if they had flourished. — Dickens 

"WHATEVER IS "WORTH DOING" 

Once when Charles Dickens was asked for the secret of 
his success, he replied that it was due to hard work and a 
motto which he had faithfully tried to live up to: "What- 
ever is worth doing is worth doing well. ' ' His son said of 
him: "Whatever he did, he put his whole heart into, and 
did as well as he could. Whether it was for work or for 
play, he was always in earnest." One of Dickens' sayings 



FEBRUARY 131 

was : ' ' Boys, do all the good you can, and don 't make any 
fuss about it. ' ' 

Read: Dickens' David Copperfield, which is almost the 
true story of Dickens' own life; Pickwick Papers; Oliver 
Twist; Nicholas Nickleby; The Old Curiosity Shop; A 
Christmas Carol; also " Dickens in Camp," by Bret Harte. 

Birthday: Charles Dickens, a famous English writer 
of novels and one of the world's greatest story-tellers, born 
at Landport, England, February 7, 1812 ; died at his home, 
called Gadshill, near Rochester, England, June 9, 1870. 

8 WORTH 

A thing is worth precisely what it can do for you, 
not what you choose to pay for it. — Buskin 

Read: Ruskin's The King of the Golden River. 

Birthdays: John Ruskin, a famous English art critic 
and author, born in London, England, February 8, 1819; 
died at Brantwood, England, January 20, 1900. 

William Tecumseh Sherman, an American general, born 
at Lancaster, Ohio, February 8, 1820; died in New York 
City, February 14, 1891. 

Richard "Watson Gilder, an American poet, born at Bor- 
dentown, N. J., February 8, 1844; died November 18, 1909. 

9 WORK 

The genius of success is still the genius of labor. 

— Garfield 

A DAWNING DAY 

BY THOMAS CARLYLE 

So here hath been dawning 
Another blue day. 
Think ! Wilt thou let it 
Slip useless away? 



132 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Out of Eternity 
This new day is born ; 
Into Eternity 
At night doth return. 

Behold it beforehand 
No eye ever did; 
So soon it forever 
From all eyes is hid. 

Here hath been dawning 
Another blue day. 
Think ! wilt thou let it 
Slip useless away? 

Read: " Training for Greatness," from Marden's Sto- 
ries from Life. 

Sing : "The Work of the Week," from Songs in Season. 

Birthdays: William Henry Harrison, ninth president 
of the United States, born in Berkeley, Va., February 9, 
1773; died in Washington, D. C, just one month after 
taking the oath of office, April 4, 1841. 

George Ade, an American author and playwright, born 
in Kentland, Ind., February 9, 1866; living at Hazelden 
Farm, Brook, Ind. 

Paul Laurence Dunbar, an American poet of African 
descent, born at Dayton, Ohio, June 27, 1872 ; died at Dun- 
bar, Ohio, February 9, 1906. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Louisiana. (See Arbor 
Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 

10 GOODNESS 

The plainest face has beauty, 

If the owner's kind and true; 
And that's the kind of beauty 

My boy and girl, for you. 



FEBRUARY 133 

"THE HANDSOMEST MAN I EVER SAW" 

Among the many stories told of President Lincoln the 
following deserves a worthy place : Hon. Thaddeus Stevens 
called with an elderly lady in great trouble, whose son had 
been in the army, but for some offense had been court- 
martialed and sentenced either to death or imprisonment. 
After a full hearing, the President proceeded to execute 
the paper granting pardon. The gratitude of the mother 
was too deep for expression, save by her tears, and not a 
word was said between her and Mr. Stevens until they 
were half way down the stairs when she suddenly broke 
forth in an excited manner with the words, "I knew it was 
a copperhead lie!" "What do you refer to, madam?" 
asked Mr. Stevens. "Why, they told me he was an ugly- 
looking man," she replied, with vehemence. "He is the 
handsomest man I ever saw in my life ! ' ' 

11 PERSEVEBANCE 

Strongest minds 
Are often those of whom the noisy world 
Hears least. — Wordsworth 

THE STORY OF EDISON 

Thomas A. Edison was born a poor boy. He received 
but little education, and when quite young became a news- 
boy on a railroad train. Becoming interested in chemistry, 
he fitted up a small laboratory in one of the cars, where he 
tried experiments ; but one day he came near setting fire to 
the train, and as a consequence he and his whole outfit were 
kicked out by the conductor. He then got some old type 
and began printing a little newspaper of his own, which 
he sold on the trains. 

Having become acquainted with the telegraph operators 
along the line, he learned how to telegraph, and got a place 
in a telegraph office. Here again he tried so many experi- 
ments and attempted so many things thought to be im- 



134 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

possible, that he soon got the name of "Looney" (for luna- 
tic) and lost his situation. This did not discourage him, 
and he became so skillful an operator that he was given 
the best place in the telegraph office in Boston. After ex- 
perimenting a long time Mr. Edison discovered a way of 
sending several telegraphic messages at one time over the 
same wires. He also made many improvements in the 
telephone and in electric light; but his greatest invention 
is the phonograph. 

Read: Habberton's Poor Boys' Chances; Hamilton 
Wright Mabie's Men Who Have Bisen; Macomber's Stories 
of Great Inventors. 

Sing : ' ' Work, for the Night is Coming, ' ' from American 
School Songs. 

Birthdays: Daniel Boone, an American hunter and 
pioneer, born in Bucks County, Pa., February 11, 1735; 
died in Missouri, September 26, 1820. 

Thomas A. Edison, an American inventor, born in Milan, 
Ohio, February 11, 1847; lives at Llewellyn Park, West 
Orange, N. J. 

12 ABEAHAM LINCOLN 

Great captains, with their guns and drums, 

Disturb our judgment for the hour, 
But at last silence comes; 

These all are gone, and, standing like a tower, 
Our children shall behold his fame: 

The kindly-earnest, brave, foreseeing man, 
Sagacious, patient, dreading praise, not blame, 

New birth of our new soil, the first American. 
— James Russell Lowell 

THE SOLDIER'S REPRIEVE 

MRS. R. D. C. ROBBINS 
PART I 

"I thought, Mr. Allan, when I gave my Bennie to his 
country, that not a father in all this broad land made so 



FEBRUARY 135 

precious a gift — no, not one. The dear boy only slept a 
minute, just one little minute, at his post. I know that 
was all, for Bennie never dozed over a duty. How prompt 
and reliable he was! I know he only slept one little 
second; — he was so young, and not strong, that boy of 
mine ! Why, he was as tall as I, and only eighteen ! And 
now they shoot him — because he was found asleep when 
doing sentinel-duty. ' Twenty-four hours,' the telegram 
said. Only twenty-four hours! Where is Bennie now?" 

"We will hope, with his Heavenly Father/' said Mr. 
Allan, soothingly. 

' ' Yes, yes ; let us hope. God is very merciful ! * I should 
be ashamed, father,' Bennie said, 'when I am a man, to 
think I never used this great right arm' (and he held it 
out so proudly before me) 'for my country, when it needed 
it. Palsy it, rather than keep it at the plow. ' ' Go, then — 
go, my boy,' I said, 'and God keep you!' God has kept 
him, I think, Mr. Allan." 

"Like the apple of his eye, Mr. Owen; doubt it not." 

Little Blossom sat near them, listening, with blanched 
cheek. She had not shed a tear. Her anxiety had been 
so concealed that no one had noticed it. Now she answered 
a gentle tap at the kitchen door, opening it to receive a 
letter from a neighbor's hand. "It is from him," was all 
she said. 

It was like a message from the dead ! Mr. Owen took the 
letter, but could not break the envelope on account of his 
trembling fingers, and held it toward Mr. Allan, with the 
helplessness of a child. 

The minister opened it, and read as follows: — 

"Dear Father: When this reaches you — I — shall — be 
in — eternity. At first it seemed awful to me; but I have 
thought about it so much now, that it has no terror. They 
say they will not bind me nor blind me, but that I may 
meet my death like a man. I thought, father, it might have 



136 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

been on the battlefield for my country, and that, when I 
fell, it would be fighting gloriously; but to be shot down 
like a dog for nearly betraying it — to die for neglect of 
duty ! — oh, father, I wonder the very thought does not kill 
me ! But I shall not disgrace you. I am going to write you 
all about it; and, when I am gone, you may tell my com- 
rades. I can not now. You know I promised Jimmie 
Carr's mother I would look after her boy; and, when be- 
fell sick, I did all I could for him. He was not strong when 
ordered back into the ranks, and the day before that night I 
carried all his luggage, besides my own, on our march. 
Toward night we went in on double-quick, and though the 
luggage began to feel very heavy, everybody else was tired 
too. And as for Jimmie, if I had not lent him an arm now 
and then, he would have dropped by the way. I was all 
tired out when we went into camp, and then it was Jimmie 's 
turn to be sentry, and I would take his place ; but I was too 
tired, father. I could not have kept awake if a gun had 
been pointed at my head; but I did not know it until — 
well — until it was too late." 

''God be thanked!" said Mr. Owen. "I knew Bennie 
was not the boy to sleep carelessly at his post." 

"They tell me, to-day, that I have a short reprieve — ■ 
' time to write to you, ' our good colonel says. Forgive him, 
father; he only does his duty; he would gladly save me 
if he could. And do not lay my death up against Jimmie. 
The poor boy is broken-hearted, and does nothing but beg 
and entreat them to let him die in my stead. 

1 * I can 't bear to think of mother and Blossom. Comfort 
them, father! Tell them I die as a brave boy should, and 
that, when the war is over, they will not be ashamed of me, 
as they must be now. God help me ; it is very hard to bear ! 
Good-by, father! God seems near and dear to me, as if 
he felt sorry for his poor, broken-hearted child, and would 
take me to be with him — in a better, better life. 

"To-night I shall see the cows all coming home from 



FEBRUARY 137 

pasture, and precious little Blossom standing on the back 
stoop, waiting for me; but — I — shall never — never — come! 
God bless you all ! Forgive your poor Bennie. ' ' 

PART II 

Late that night a little figure glided down the foot-path 
toward the Mill Depot. The conductor, as he reached down 
to lift her into the car, wondered at the tear-stained face 
that was* upturned toward the dim lantern he held in his 
hand. 

A few questions and ready answers told him all; and 
no father could have cared more tenderly for his only 
child, than he for our little Blossom. She was on her way 
to Washington, to ask President Lincoln for her brother's 
life. She had brought Bennie 's letter with her; no good, 
kind heart, like the President's, could refuse to be melted 
by it. 

The next morning they reached New York, and the con- 
ductor hurried her on to Washington. Every minute, now, 
might be the means of saving her brother's life. 

The President had but just seated himself to his even- 
ing's task, when the door softly opened, and Blossom, with 
downcast eyes and folded hands, stood before him. 

"Well, my child," he said, in his pleasant, cheerful 
tones, "what do you want?" 

" Bennie 's life, please, sir," faltered Blossom. 

1 ' Bennie ! Who is Bennie ? ' ' 

"My brother, sir. They are going to shoot him for 
sleeping at his post." 

"Oh, yes; I remember. It was a fatal sleep. You see, 
child, it was a time of special danger. Thousands of lives 
might have been lost by his negligence." 

"So my father said," replied Blossom, gravely. "But 
poor Bennie was so tired, sir, and Jimmie so weak. He did 
the work of two, sir, and it was Jimmie 's night, not his; 



138 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

but Jimmie was too tired, and Bennie never thought about 
himself, that he was tired too." 

"What is this you say, child 1 : Come here; 1 do not 
understand." Ami the kind man, as ever, caught eagerly 
at what seemed to be a justification of an offense. 

Blossom went to him. lie put his hand tenderly on her 
shoulder, and turned up the pale, anxious face toward 
his. Mow tall he seemed! And he was President of the 
United States, too! A dim thought of this kind passed for 
a moment through Blossom's mind; but she told her simple, 
straightforward story, and handed Bennie s letter to Mr. 
Lincoln to read. 

He read it carefully; then, taking up his pen, wrote a 
few hasty lines and rang his bell. Blossom heard this 
order given: "Send this dispatch at once." 

The President then turned to the girl, and said: "Go 
home, my child, and tell that father of yours, who could 
approve his country's sentence, even when it took the life 
oi' a child like that, that Abraham Lincoln thinks the life 
far too precious to be lost. Go back, or — wait until to- 
morrow ; Bennie will need a change after he has so bravely 
faced death; he shall go with you." 

"(led bless you, sir!" said Blossom. 

Two days after this interview, the young soldier came 
to the "White House with his little sister. He was called 
into the President's private room, and a strap fastened 
upon his shoulder. Mr, Lincoln then said: "The soldier 
that could carry a sick comrade's baggage, and die for the 
act so uncomplainingly, deserves well of his country." 

Then Bennie and Blossom took their way to their Green- 
Mountain home. A crowd gathered at the Mill Depot to 
welcome them back; and, as Farmer Owen's hand grasped 
that of his boy, tears flowed down his cheeks, and he was 
heard to say fervently, "The Lord be praised!" 

Learn: "The Gettysburg Address." 



FEBRUARY 139 

Read: Speeches by Lincoln; "Abraham Lincoln," from 
Our Holidays: Keloid from tit. Nicholas; Arnold's Life of 
Abraham Lincoln; Baldwin's Abraham Lincoln; "Training 
Tor Greatness/' in Mar den's Stories from Life, The Per- 
fect Tribute, by Andrews. For tributes in verse, songs, 
entertainment, etc., procure a copy of Sindelar's Lincoln 
Day "Entertainments, 

Sing: "Lincoln," from Hongs in Season, and 
"America." 

Birthdays: Cotton Mather, a famous New England 
divine and author, born in Boston, Mass., February 12, 
1663; died in Boston, February 13, 1728. 

Tadensz (Thaddeus) Kosciuszko, a Polish patriot, born 
near Novogrudek, in Lithuania, February 12, 1746; died 
in Solothurn, Switzerland, October 15, 1817. (Was aide- 
de-camp to General Washington, and served with honor 
until the end of the Revolution, when he went back to his 
native country.) 

Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth president of the United 
States, born in Hardin County, Ky., February 12, 1809; 
shot by an assassin [John Wilkes Booth] at Ford's Theater, 
Washington, April 14, 1865, and died the following day. 

Charles R. Darwin, an English writer on natural his- 
tory, born in Shrewsbury, England, February 12, 1809; 
died at Down, Kent, England, April 19, 1882. 

George Meredith, an English novelist and poet, born in 
Hampshire, England, February 12, 1828, died at Boxhill, 
Surrey, England, May 18, 1909. 



13 ABRAHAM LINCOLN 

[Continued] 

My captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; 

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will; 

The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done: 

From fearful trip, the victor ship comes in, with object won; 



140 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Exult, O shores; and ring, bells! 

But I, with mournful tread, 
Walk the deck; my captain lies, 

Fallen, cold, and dead. 

— Walt Whitman, 1865 

"HE BELONGS TO THE AGES" 

Lincoln, who was shot a little after ten o'clock in the 
evening, lingered, unconscious, until early the next morn- 
ing. When his spirit passed away, Secretary Stanton was 
the first to break the silence by saying, ' ' Now he belongs to 
the ages." The grief of the people for the Nation's hero 
was well-nigh universal. 

Read : Anecdotes pertaining to Lincoln given elsewhere 
in this book. (See index.) 

14 ST. VALENTINE'S DAY 

Every joy that heart can hold 

Be thine this day a thousandfold. 

THE DAY 

Custom decrees that on this day the young shall exchange 
missives in which the love of the sender is told in verses, 
pictures and sentiment. No reason beyond a guess can 
be given to connect St. Valentine with these customs. He 
was a Christian martyr, about 270 a. d., while the practice 
of sending valentines had its origin in the heathen worship 
of Juno. It is Cupid's day, and no boy or girl needs any 
encouragement to make the most of it. — Oar Holidays 

Read: "Who Began It," from Our Holidays: Retold 
from St. Nicholas. 

Sing: "Valentine Day," from Songs in Season. 

Birthdays: Sir William Blackstone, author of a famous 
law-book called Commentaries of the Laws of England, 



FEBRUARY 141 

born in London, England, July 10, 1723 ; died February 14, 
1780. 

Winfield Scott Hancock, an American general, born in 
Montgomery County, Pa., February 14, 1824; died at 
Governor's Island, N. Y., February 9, 1886. 

Special Day : St. Valentine 's Day. 

15 FRIENDS 

On the choice of friends 
Our good or evil name depends. 
— Gay 

Birthdays: Galileo, an Italian philosopher and mathe- 
matician, born at Pisa, Italy, February 15, 1564; died at 
Arcetri, near Florence, Italy, January 8, 1642. 

Cyrus Hall McCormick, an American inventor, born at 
Walnut Grove, Va., February 15, 1809; died in Chicago, 
111., May 13, 1884. 

16 PERSEVERANCE 

Everything comes to him who waits — and hustles 
while he waits. 

DON'T GIVE UP 

BY PHCEBE CARY 

If youVe tried and have not won, 

Never stop for crying; 
All that's great and good is done 

Just by patient trying. 

Though young birds, in flying, fall, 
Still their wings grow stronger ; 

And the next time they can keep 
Up a little longer. 



142 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Though the sturdy oak has known 

Many a blast that bowed her, 
She has risen again, and grown 

Loftier and prouder. 

If by easy work you beat, 

"Who the more will prize you? 
Gaining victory from defeat, 

That 's the test that tries you ! 

Birthday : Ernst H. Haeckel, a noted German naturalist, 
born at Potsdam, Prussia, February 16, 1834. 

17 A GOOD NAME 

He who steals my purse steals trash, 
But he that filches from me my good name 
Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
And makes me poor indeed. 

— Shakespeare 

18 DEVOTION 

He prayeth well, who loveth well 

Both man and bird and beast. 

He prayeth best who loveth best 

All things both great and small, 

For the dear God who loveth us — 

He made and loveth all. 

— From "Ancient Mariner" hy Coleridge 

CHAELES AND MARY LAMB 

No man was more sympathetic than Charles Lamb. He 
led a brave life. His sister Mary had times when she lost 
her reason, and at one of these times she actually killed her 
own mother. Charles, who was at this time but twenty- 
one years of age, resolved to sacrifice his life to his "poor, 
dear, dearest sister," and voluntarily became her com- 
panion. He gave up all thoughts of home and society. 
Under the strong influence of duty, he renounced the only 



FEBRUARY 143 

attachment he had ever formed. With an income of 
scarcely five hundred dollars a year, he trod the journey 
of life alone, fortified by his attachment for his sister. 
Neither pleasure nor toil ever diverted him from his pur- 
pose. 

When released from the asylum, Mary devoted part of 
her time to the composition of the Tales from Shakespeare, 
and other works. When she felt a fit of insanity coming 
on, Charles would take her under his arm and together 
they would walk sadly across the fields to the asylum. 

When she had recovered her reason, she went home again 
to her brother, who joyfully received her — treating her 
with the utmost tenderness. "God loves her," he said; 
' ' may we two never love each other less. ' ' Their affection 
continued for forty years, without a cloud, except such 
as arose from, the fluctuations of her health. 

Read: Selections from Tales from Shakespeare, by 
Charles and Mary Lamb ; ' ' Damon and Pythias, ' ' as given 
on p. 32 of this book. 

Sing: "The Lord is My Shepherd/' from American 
School Songs. 

Birthday : Charles Lamb, a famous English writer, born 
in London, England, February 18, 1775 ; died in Edmonton, 
England, December 27, 1834. 

19 DEEDS 

A man of words and not of deeds 
Is like a garden full of weeds. 

Birthdays: Nikolaus Copernicus, a famous astronomer, 
born in Thorn, Poland, February 19, 1473 ; died at Frauen- 
burg, Prussia, May 24, 1543. 

Edgar Allen Poe, an American poet and story writer, 
born in Boston, Mass., February 19, 1809; died in Balti- 
more, Md., October 7, 1849. 



144 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Adeline Patti, a celebrated Italian opera singer, born in 
Madrid, Spain, February 19, 1843; lives in Wales. 

20 INDUSTEY 

Plow deep while sluggards sleep, and you'll have 
corn to sell and keep. — Franklin 

THE IDLE LITTLE BOY 

There was once an idle little boy. He did not know 
much. His mother sent him to school. He did not wish to 
go, so he went off to play. 

He said, "How pretty the trees look! The sun shines 
and the birds sing. I will not go to school. I will play." 

Soon he saw a bee. The bee flew from flower to flower. 
The little boy said, "Come and play with me." 

But the bee said, "No, I must get some honey. I must 
not be idle." So he flew away. 

Then the little boy met a dog. "Dog, will you play with 
me?" he said. 

But the dog said, "I must not be idle. I must go and 
catch a rabbit." 

Then the boy saw a bird. He said, "Birdie, come and 
play with me. ' ' 

But the bird said, "I must make a nest." So the bird 
flew away. 

Then a horse came along. "Horse, will you play with 
me?" 

"No, I must go and plough the field. Then we can have 
some corn." 

"Oh, dear! I will go to school. I can't play alone," said 
the boy. So off he went to school and learned his lessons. 
— Tweed's Supplementary Reader 

Birthdays: David Garrick, an English actor, born in 
Hereford, England, February 20, 1716; died in London, 
England, January 20, 1779. 



FEBRUARY 145 

Joseph Jefferson, a noted American actor, born in Phila- 
delphia, Pa., February 20, 1829 ; died at Palm Beach, Fla., 
April 23, 1905. 

21 PATEIOTISM 

Oh, Washington! thou hero, patriot, sage, 
Friend of all climes and pride of every age! 

— Thomas Paine 

THE VETERAN ARMY 

During our Revolutionary War, eighty old German sol- 
diers, who, after having long served under different mon- 
archs in Europe, had retired to America and converted 
their swords into plowshares, voluntarily formed them- 
selves into a company, and distinguished themselves in 
various actions in the cause of independence. The captain 
was nearly one hundred years old, had been in the army 
forty years, and present in seventeen battles. The drummer 
was ninety-four, and the youngest man in the corps on the 
verge of seventy. 

Instead of a cockade, each man wore a piece of black 
crape, as a mark of sorrow for being obliged, at so advanced 
a period of life, to bear arms. "But," said the veterans, 
"we should be deficient in gratitude, if we did not act in 
defense of a country which has afforded us a generous 
asylum, and protected us from tyranny and oppression. ' ? 
Such a band of soldiers never before perhaps appeared on 
the field of battle. 

Read : Bible, Psalm 136. 

Sing: "Washington," from American School Songs. 

Birthdays: John Henry Newman, an English cardinal 
and author, born in London, England, February 21, 1801; 
died at Edgbaston, England, August 11, 1890. 

[James] Bradner Matthews, an American author, born 
in New Orleans, La., February 21, 1852 ; lives in New York 
City. 



146 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

22 WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY 

O Washington! thrice glorious name, 
What due rewards can man decree — 

Empires are far below thy aim, 

And scepters have no charms for thee; 

Virtue alone has your regard, 

And she must be your great reward. 

— Philip Freneau 

THE INFLUENCE OF A GREAT NAME 

When Washington consented to act as commander-in- 
chief, it was felt as if the strength of the American forces 
had been more than doubled. Many years later, in 1798, 
when Washington, grown old, had withdrawn from public 
life and was living in retirement at Mount Vernon, and 
when it seemed probable that France would declare war 
against the United States, President Adams wrote to him, 
saying, "We must have your name, if you will permit us 
to use it; there will be more efficacy in it than in many 
an army." Such was the esteem in which the great Presi- 
dent's noble character and eminent abilities were held by 
his countrymen! 

Head: "Character of Washington/ ' from Cyr's Fifth 
Reader; "Our Greatest Patriot," from Blaisdell and Ball's 
Hero Tales from American History; "The Boyhood of 
Washington," from Our Holidays: Retold from St. Nich- 
olas. Use Sindelar's Washington Day Entertainments in 
preparing an entertainment program. 

Sing: "Washington Song" and "The First Flag," 
from Songs in Season; "Mount Vernon Bells," from School 
Song Knapsack. 

Birthdays: George Washington, "The Father of His 
Country" and first president of the United States, born in 
Westmoreland County, Va., February 22, 1732; died at 
Mt. Vernon, Va., December 14, 1799. 

Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, a French landscape painter, 



FEBRUARY 147 

born in Paris, France, in July, 1796; died in Paris, Feb- 
ruary 22, 1875. 

Sarah Flower Adams, an English poet, born at Great 
Harlow, County Essex, England, February 22, 1805; died 
in August, 1848. Author of "Nearer, My God, to Thee," etc. 

James Russell Lowell, a famous American poet, born in 
Cambridge, Mass., February 22, 1819 ; died in Cambridge, 
Mass., August 12, 1891. 

Special Days: Washington's Birthday; Lowell's Birth- 
day; Arbor Day in Alabama and Texas. (See Arbor Day, 
April 19 and 20, this book.) 

23 WASHINGTON'S EULES OF CONDUCT 

[Found among his private papers after his death.] 

Be no flatterer. 

Mock not, nor jest at anything of importance. 

Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparage- 
ment of any one. 

Undertake not what you can not perform, but be care- 
ful to keep your promises. 

Show not yourself glad at the misfortunes of another, 
though he were your enemy. 

When a man does all he can though he succeed not well, 
blame not him that did it. 

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of 
celestial fire called conscience. 

Whenever you reprove another be not blamable yourself 
for example is more prevalent than precept. 

Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you 
esteem your own reputation, for it is better to be 
alone than in bad company. 

Whisper not in the company of others. 

Read no letters, books, or papers in company. 

Every action in company ought to be some sign of 
respect to those present. 

Come not near the books or writing of any one so as 
to read them unasked. 

Speak not when others speak. 

Speak no evil of the absent, for it is unjust. 

Let your conversation be without malice or envy. 

Be not apt to relate news if you know not the truth 
thereof. 

Speak not in an unknown tongue in company, but in 
your own language. 



148 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Use no reproachful language against any one, neither 

curse, nor revile. 
When another speaks be attentive yourself, and disturb 

not the audience. 

Birthday: Sir Joshua Reynolds, a noted English por- 
trait painter, born at Plympton, Devonshire, England, July 
16, 1723; died in London, England, February 23, 1792. 

24 WISDOM 

Have more than thou showest 
Speak less than thou knowest. 
— Shakespeare 

ROBERT PULTON 

When Fulton was building his steamboat, the Clermont, 
everybody laughed at him. They thought he was wasting 
his time and that a boat could not be run except by sails 
or with an engine turned by men. But when the Clermont 
was seen moving along on the Hudson River against both 
wind and tide, the shores rang with shouts of delight, and 
those who had jeered him were silent with wonder. In 
1814 Fulton built for the United States the first steam 
war-vessel ever made. 

Sing: "Boat Song/' from Merry Melodies. 

Birthdays : Robert Fulton, a famous American inventor, 
born at Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pa., in 1765; 
died in New York City, February 24, 1815. 

Winslow Homer, an American painter, born in Boston, 
Mass., February 24, 1836 ; died at Scarboro, Me., September 
29, 1910. 

25 TIME 

Lost, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two 
!?olden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. 
No reward is offered for they are lost forever. 

— Horace Mann 



FEBRUARY 149 

Birthday: Camille Plammarion, a French astronomer, 
born at Montigny-le-Eoi, Haute-Marne, France, February 
25, 1842. 

26 PROGBESS 

My idea is this: ever onward. If God had intended 
that man should go backward, he would have given 
him an eye in the back of his head. — Victor Hugo 

Read: "The Good Bishop,'' from Les Miserables, by 
Victor Hugo, in Cabot's Ethics for Children. 

Sing: "Sing, Smile, Slumber," from Songs Every One 
Should Know. 

Birthday: Victor M. Hugo, a famous French poet and 
novel writer, born in Besancon, France, February 26, 1802 ; 
died in Paris, France, May 22, 1885. 



27 LONGFELLOW'S BIRTHDAY 

"lis always morning somewhere, and above 
The awakening continents, from shore to shore, 
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore. 

— Longfellow 

Learn: Longfellow's ''Excelsior," "The Legend Beau- 
tiful," "Robert of Sicily" and "The Psalm of Life." 

Read : The Story of Longfellow, by Beebe ; "Longfellow 
and the Children," from Our Holidays: Retold from St. 
Nicholas; selections from Longfellow 's writings. 

Sing: "Longfellow," from Songs in Season; "Stars of 
the Summer Night," from Songs Every One Should Know; 
"The Ship of State," "A Psalm of Life," and "Life is 
Real, Life is Earnest," from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 

Birthday: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a famous 
American poet, born in Portland, Maine, February 27, 1807 ; 
died in Cambridge, Mass., March 24, 1882. 



150 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

28 PATRIOTISM 

Our band is few, but true and tried, our leader frank and bold: 
The British soldier trembles when Marion's name is told. 
Our fortress is the good greenwood, our tent the cypress tree: 
We know the forest round us, as seamen know the sea; 
We know its walls of thorny vines, its glades of reedy grass, 
Its safe and silent islands within the dark morass. 

— From "Song of Marion's Men" by Bryant 

"THE SWAMP FOX" 

General Francis Marion was a daring and useful officer 
in the Revolution. Sometimes he would fight with the army, 
sometimes with bands of patriotic farmers and backwoods- 
men on horseback, dashing through the country, surprising 
the enemy at different points in the same day, then vanish- 
ing as suddenly. The British were in constant dread of 
''the Swamp Fox," as they called him. Marion and his 
men lived in the swamps and forests, and had little food 
or clothing. A British officer sent to ask an exchange of 
prisoners, was led blindfolded into Marion 's camp at Snow 
Island. When their business was concluded Marion invited 
the officer to dinner. To his utter astonishment, he saw 
some roasted potatoes brought forward on a piece of bark, 
of which the general partook freely and invited his guest 
to do the same. "Surely, General," said the officer, "this 
cannot be your ordinary fare!" "Indeed it is," replied 
Marion, "and we are fortunate on this occasion, entertain- 
ing company, to have more than our usual allowance." It 
is said that the young officer, on his return to Georgetown, 
gave up his commission, declaring that such a people could 
not be, and ought not to be, subdued. 

Read: Bryant's "Song of Marion's Men;" Simms' 
"Marion the Swamp Fox." 

Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox," an American gen- 
eral in the Revolution, born near Georgetown, S. Car., in 
1732; died February 28, 1795. 



MARCH 



1 MAECH 

O March that blusters, and March that blows, 
What color under your footstep grows? 

Beauty you summon from winter's snows 

And you are the pathway that leads to the rose. 
— From "March," by Celia Thaxter 

Birthdays: Frederic Francois Chopin, a celebrated 
Polish composer and pianist, born near Warsaw, Poland, 
March 1, 1809 ; died in Paris, France, October 17, 1849. 

William Dean Howells, an American novelist and poet, 
born in Martinsville, Ohio, March 1, 1837 ; resides in New 
York City. 

2 WISDOM 

True wisdom is to know what is best worth knowing, 
and to do what is best worth doing. — Humphreys 

THE STRANGE STORY OF SAM HOUSTON 

When Sam Houston was quite young he left home and 
went to live with the Cherokee Indians, one of whose chiefs 
adopted him for his son. He became noted as an Indian 
fighter, and fought bravely under General Jackson at the 
battle of Tallapoosa (March 24, 1814). In 1827 he was 
chosen governor of Tennessee, but resigned his office and 
went back to the Indians. In 1834 he went to Texas, then 
a part of Mexico, and when in 1835 the Texans began a 
war of independence he was made commander-in-chief of 
the army. He met the Mexican army under Santa Anna, 
the Mexican president, at the San Jacinto River, and 



152 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

though he had only half as many men Houston gained a 
splendid victory (April 21, 1836). The next day Santa 
Anna himself was captured, and forced to sign a treaty 
by which Texas was made independent. Houston was twice 
elected president of Texas', and ruled the country well and 
wisely. He made treaties with Indian tribes, brought back 
trade and peace with Mexico, and finally succeeded in hav- 
ing Texas admitted to the Union (1845). After that he was 
United States Senator and governor of Texas. 

Sing : ' ' Hail ! Columbia, ' ' and ' ' The Flag of the Union, 
Forever,' ' from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays: Sam Houston, an American soldier, born 
near Lexington, Va., March 2, 1793; died at Huaterville, 
Texas, July 25, 1863. 

Carl Schurz, a German- American statesman and journal- 
ist, born near Cologne, Germany, March 2, 1829 ; died May 
14, 1906. 

Special Day: Anniversary of Texas independence, ob- 
served in Texas. 

3 WORDS 

Every gentle word you say, 
One dark spirit drives away; 
Every gentle deed you do, 
One bright spirit brings to you. 

— V. B. Harrison 

HOW THE TELEPHONE WAS INVENTED 

In a recent lecture Prof. Alexander Graham Bell is 
reported to have explained, as follows, how he came to 
invent the telephone : 

1 'My father invented a symbol by which deaf mutes 
could converse, and finally I invented an apparatus by 
which the vibrations of speech could be seen, and it turned 
out to be a telephone. It occurred to me to make a machine 
that would enable one to hear vibrations. I went to an 
aurist, and he advised me to take the human ear as my 



MARCH 153 

model. He supplied me with a dead man's ear, and with 
this ear I experimented, and upon applying the apparatus 
I found that the dead man 's ear wrote down the vibrations. 
"I arrived at the conclusion that if I could make iron 
vibrate on a dead man's ear, I could make an instrument 
more delicate which would cause those vibrations to be 
heard and understood. I thought if I placed a delicate 
piece of steel over an electric magnet I could get a vibra- 
tion, and thus the telephone was completed. The telephone 
arose from my attempts to teach the deaf to speak. It arose 
from my knowledge, not of electricity, but as a teacher of 
the deaf. Had I been an electrician I would not have 
attempted it." 

Birthday : Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the 
telephone, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, March 3, 1847; 
living in Washington, D. C. 

4 INAUGUKATION DAY 

Always vote for a principle, though you vote alone, 
and you may cherish the sweet reflection that your 
vote is never lost. — John Quincy Adams 

HOW THE DATE WAS SET 

The date of Inauguration Day was settled by the old 
Congress of the Confederation in 1788, when the procedure 
was established for the election of a President. It was 
decreed that the Electoral College should meet on the first 
Wednesday of January, the votes be counted by the House 
of Representatives on the first Wednesday of February, 
and the President be inaugurated the first Wednesday of 
March. The March date was the 4th. March 4 has been 
Inauguration Day ever since. — Our Holidays 

Eead: "How a President Is Inaugurated," from Our 
Holidays: Retold from St. Nicholas. 
Sing: " America.' ' 



154 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Birthday : Count Casimir Pulaski, a Polish soldier, who 
fought in the American Revolution, born in Podolia, Poland, 
March 4, 1748 ; died at Savannah, Ga., October 11, 1779. 

Special Day : Inauguration Day. 

5 DUTY 

Though your duty may be hard, 

Look not on it as an ill; 
If it be an honest task, 

Do it with an honest will. 

— R. B. Sheridan 

Sing: "Duty and Inclination," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

Birthdays : Antonio Allegri Correggio, a famous Italian 
painter, born at Correggio, now called Reggin, Italy, in 
1494; died at Correggio, March 5, 1534. 

Howard Pyle, an American artist and writer for young 
folks, born in Wilmington, Del., March 5, 1853; died in 
Florence, Italy, November 9, 1911. 

6 BOOKS 

Books are men of higher stature, 
And the only men that speak aloud for 
future times to hear! 

— Mrs. Browning 

MY BOOK IS A HOUSE 

BY ABBIE FARWELL BROWN 

It's a curious house, where people dwell, 
And wonders happen, ill or well. 
The door-plate gives the house's name, 
Likewise the builder of the same. 

You enter, if you have a key, 
And something of a scholar be. 
You ope the door, and in the hall 
A picture greets you, first of all. 



MARCH 155 

A blazoned notice next you view, 
The builder's name, the owner's too, 
The city where the house was made, 
Date when the cornerstone was laid. 

And then you find a list enrolled 
Of treasures which the house doth hold, 
That you may choose what suits your eye, 
Or if none please may pass them by. 

And then you swing door after door, 
Each numbered next to that before, 
From room to room you pass in turn, 
And many curious things you learn 

About the people of the house 
(But you must keep still as a mouse). 
A magic house, then, it must be, 
For all things happen rapidly; 

Behind its doors years pass away, 
Though you may but an hour stay. 
Perhaps around the world you soar 
Before you pass the other door. 

Yet when this gate is closed behind, 
You have not stirred a step, you find ! 
Your hand may move the house at will, 
Carry it far, or leave it still. 

Though months and years may pass away, 
Unchanged the house and inmates stay. 
Your house to sell — or give — or let; 
Yours to revisit or forget. 

Read : ' ' Sheridan 's Ride, ' ' by Thomas Buchanan Read. 



156 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Sing : "The Old School-Bell, ' ' from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 

Birthdays: Michael Angelo, a famous Italian painter, 
sculptor and architect, born near Florence, Italy, March 
6, 1474; died in Rome, Italy, February 17, 1563. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, wife of Robert Browning, 
a noted English poet, born at Coxhoe Hall, Durham, Eng- 
land, March 6, 1806; died June 30, 1861. 

Philip H. Sheridan, an American general, born at Somer- 
set, Ohio, March 6, 1831 ; died August 5, 1888. 

7 BUEBANK DAY 

Flowers are cousins to children — 

So Frederick Froebel thought 
When he planted the kindergarten, 

Where the children would be taught 
To grow like the beautiful flowers, 

Under the gardener's care, 
Removing the harsh and ugly, 

Keeping only the good and fair. 
— Fannie F. Copeland 

"NATURE'S HELPER" 

Luther Burbank when a boy cared but little for the 
regular school studies. He liked best to talk to the flowers, 
to study their ways, and to watch things grow. As he grew 
older he began to take a still greater interest in his "plant 
children," and to experiment with them in his endeavor 
to improve upon nature. Of course this seemed foolish 
to many people, but Mr. Burbank had an idea that he could 
do it and he was going to give it a trial. To-day we can 
see the results of Mr. Burbank 's work in his new creations 
of flowers, fruits, plants and trees. 

How many have seen the Burbank potato? the improved 
Shasta daisy? the white blackberry? the Burbank plum? 
the Burbank prune? But Mr. Burbank 's greatest work 
is perhaps the improved fruit-bearing cactus. He has made 
it give up its thorns and its woody fibre, and grow instead 



MARCH 157 

a smooth outer covering, a rich juicy leaf and fruit that 
may be used for food. This cactus will make desert travel 
safe and will also furnish food for cattle on the vast 
areas that are annually visited by drouth. 

Bead or tell more of Mr. Burbank's life and work; Bible, 
Isaiah 35 : 1, 6 and 7. 

Sing: "Flower Day," from Songs in Season; "The 
Daisy," from American School Songs. 

Birthdays : Sir Edwin Landseer, a famous English artist, 
born in London, England, March 7, 1802 ; died in London, 
October 1, 1873. 

Luther Burbank, "nature's helper," born March 7, 1849; 
lives in Santa Rosa, California. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in California. (See Arbor 
Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 

8 CLEANLINESS 

Cleanliness of body was ever esteemed to proceed 
from a due reverence to God. — Bacon 

CLEAN HANDS 

A dervish of great sanctity one morning had the misfor- 
tune, as he took up a crystal cup which was consecrated to 
the Prophet, to let it fall on the ground, breaking it into 
pieces. His son coming in some time after, he stretched 
out his hand to bless him, as his manner was every morning ; 
but the youth, going out, stumbled over the threshold and 
broke his arm. As the old man wondered at these events, 
a caravan passed by on its way to Mecca. The dervish 
approached it to beg a blessing; but, as he stroked one of 
the holy camels, he received a kick from the beast which 
sorely bruised him. His sorrow and amazement increased 
on him, until he recollected, that, through hurry and inad- 
vertency, he had that morning come abroad without washing 
his hands. — Eoyal Series 



158 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Birthday: John Ericsson, a famous engineer and in- 
ventor, born in the province of Wermeland, Sweden, July 
31, 1803 ; died in New York City, March 8, 1889. (Inventor 
of the turret-ship Monitor, that defeated the Confederate 
ironclad ship Virginia, formerly the Merrimack, which was 
many times larger than the Monitor.) 

9 SOWING AND REAPING 

We can never be too careful 

What the seed our hands shall sow, 
Love from love is sure to ripen, 

Hate from hate is sure to grow. 
Seeds of good or ill we scatter 

Heedlessly along our way, 
But a glad or grievous fruitage 

Waits us at the harvest day. 
Whatsoe'er our sowing be, 

Reaping, we its fruit must see. 

Sing: "Kind Words,' ' from Kellogg 's Best Primary 
Songs; "Sowing the Seed," from American School Songs. 

Birthday: Franz Joseph Gall, a German physician, 
founder of Phrenology, born at Tiefenbrunn, near Pfor- 
zeim, Baden, Germany, March 9, 1758 ; died at Montrouge, 
near Paris, France, Aug. 22, 1828. 

10 HONESTY 

Whate'er you think, whate'er you do, 
Whate'er you purpose or pursue, 
It may be small, but must be true. 

11 TEUST 

I know not where His islands lift 

Their fronded palms in air; 
I only know I cannot drift 

Beyond His love and care. 

— Whittle?- 

Read : Bible, Luke 12 : 22-30. 

Sing: "Rock of Ages," from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 



MARCH 159 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Oklahoma (second Monday 
in March). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 

12 ACHIEVEMENT 

Though the world smile on you blandly, 
Let your friends be choice and few; 

Choose your course, pursue it grandly, 
And achieve what you pursue. 

— Read 

SALT IN YOUR CHARACTER 

There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in 
the world. It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little 
higher. There is a nobler character than that which is 
merely incorruptible. It is the character which acts as an 
antidote and preventive of corruption. Fearlessly to speak 
the words which bear witness to righteousness and truth 
and purity; patiently to do the deeds which strengthen 
virtue and kindle hope in your fellow-men; generously to 
lend a hand to those who are trying to climb upward ; faith- 
fully to give your support and your personal help to the 
efforts which are making to elevate and purify the social 
life of the world, — that is what it means to have salt in 
your character. The men that have been happiest, and 
the men that are the best remembered, are the men that 
have done good. — Henry van Dyke 

Birthday: Thomas Buchanan Read, an American poet 
and artist, born in Chester County, Pa., March 12, 1822; 
died in New York City, May 11, 1872. Author of "Sheri- 
dan's Ride." 

13 PATIENCE 

Heaven is not gained by a single bound, 
But we build the ladder by which we rise 
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, 
And we mount to its summit round by round. 

— J. G. Holland 



160 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Read: "Diff'ent Kind o' Bundles," from Slosson's 
Story -tell Lib. 

Birthday: Benjamin Harrison, twenty-third president 
of the United States, born at North Bend, Ohio, August 
20, 1833; died March 13, 1901. 

14 HONOR 

Where honor ceaseth, there knowledge decreaseth. 

— Shakespeare 

TRUE MANHOOD 

It is not always the coat that tells, 
Nor the collar your friend may wear; 

It is not always the shine of the shoe, 
Nor the finished touch of his hair. 

It is not all in a silken hat, 

Nor the fitting neat of his gloves ; 
It is not merely his cultured air, 

Nor the circle in which he moves. 

It is not his temper, his pride nor smile, 

Nor yet his worshipful mien; 
It is not even the name he bears 

In a world that is shallow and mean. 

Ah, no, after all, 'tis the man himself 

As he stands with his God alone, 
,r Tis the heart that beats beneath the coat, 

The life that points to the throne. 

The eye that cheers with its kindly glance, 
'Tis the arm 'round a brother cast ; 

The hand that points to a hope beyond, 
'Tis a love that endures to the last. 



MARCH 161 

Sing: "Help to Set the World Ke joking," from Uncle 
Sam's School Songs. 

Special Day : Arbor Day in New Mexico (second Friday 
in March). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 

15 FAIR-MINDEDNESS 

Do not look for wrong and evil; 

You will find them if you do; 
As you measure for your neighbor, 

He will measure back to you. 

— Alice Cary 

Birthday: Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the 
United States, born at Waxhaw Settlement, N. C, March 
15, 1767 ; died at his farm called the Hermitage, near Nash- 
ville, Tenn., June 8, 1845. 

16 HEALTH 

Better than grandeur, better than gold, 
Than rank or title a hundred-fold, 
Is a healthy body, and a mind at ease, 
And simple pleasures that always please. 
A heart that can feel for a neighbor's woe, 
And share in his joy with a friendly glow, 
With sympathies large enough to infold 
All men as brothers, is better than gold. 

— Alexander Smart 

Read: "What Will You Choose, " from Brown's The 
House I Live In. 

Birthday: James Madison, fourth president of the 
United States, born at King George, Va., March 16, 1761 ; 
died at Montpelier, near Orange Court House, Va., June 
28, 1836. 

17 ST. PATEICK'S DAY 

A very little seed of truth 

May sink into the soul, 
And by God's blessing, gather power 

As ages onward roll. 



162 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

ST. PATRICK AND THE SNAKES 

A great many stories are told of St. Patrick. In Ireland 
there are no snakes or other poisonous reptiles, and the 
people believe that the "Holy St. Patrick" charmed them 
all away. St. Patrick had destroyed all snakes, so runs 
the old legend, except one very large one who hid himself 
in the thick woods on the shores of the beautiful lake of 
Killarney. St. Patrick determined to catch him, so he pro- 
cured a large chest with nine strong bolts, and taking it 
on his shoulder he trudged over to Killarney, where he 
found the snake basking in the sun. The snake was induced 
to enter the chest, and it was thrown into the lake. There 
to this day, it is said by the people about the lake, they 
can hear the voice of the snake crying: "Let me out; 
hasn't to-morrow come yet?" — Selected 

18 DESTINY 

The tissues of the life to be 

We weave with colors all our own, 

And in the field of destiny 
We reap as we have sown. 

— Whittier 

Birthdays: Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator, 
after whom America was named, born in Florence, Italy, 
March 18, 1452 ; died in Seville, Spain, February 22, 1512. 

John C. Calhoun, an American statesman, born in the 
district of Abbeville, S. C, March 18, 1782; died at Wash- 
ington, D. C., March 31, 1850. 

Grover Cleveland, twenty-second and twenty-fourth 
president of the United States, born in Caldwell, N. J., 
March 18, 1837; died in Princeton, N. J., June 24, 1908. 

19 CHARACTER 

To form character is to form grooves in which are 
to flow the purposes of our lives. — William J. Bryan 



MARCH 163 

THE TWO ROSES 

I hold in my hand a rose. Its texture is delicate; its 
color, beautiful. Every petal is complete and nearly per- 
fect. Everybody loves the beauty and fragrance of the 
perfect rose. I hold here another. Some of its petals are 
well developed; others, withered and shriveled. These 
strikingly resemble two types of people. The rose that 
has all of its petals well developed is like those people who 
are honest, truthful, faithful, kind, loving. Everybody 
loves those of that type of character. This rose with the 
withered and shriveled petals is like the person whose 
character is made defective by occasional falsehoods, cheat- 
ing, unkindness to parents or others. Such characters can 
never win admiration and love. — Popular Educator 

Sing: " Smile Whenever You Can," from Merry 
Melodies. 

Birthdays: James Otis, the pen-name of James Otis 
Kaler, an American writer for young folks, born at 
Winterport, Me., March 19, 1848 ; lives in Portland, Me. 

William Jennings Bryan, an American statesman and 
politician, born at Salem, 111., March 19, 1860; at present 
(1914) Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. 

20 SPEING 

Everywhere about us they are glowing, 
Some like stars, to tell us Spring is born. 
— From "Flowers," by Henry W. Longfellow 

Read: "A Laughing Chorus 5 ' and "Wild Geese," from 
Language Through Nature, Literature and Art. 

Sing: "Spring is Coming," from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 

Birthdays : Henrik Ibsen, a noted Norwegian poet and 
writer of plays, born at Skien, Norway, March 20, 1828 ; 
died in Christiana, Norway, May 22, 1906. 

Charles W. Eliot, an American educator, ex-president of 



164 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Harvard University, born in Boston, Mass., March 20, 1834 ; 
lives in Cambridge, Mass. 

Enrico Caruso, an Italian tenor singer, born in Naples, 
Italy, March 20, 1874. He sings in more than forty operas. 

21 ORANGE DAY 

March is merry, March is mad, 
March is gay, March is sad; 
Every humor we may know 
If we list the winds that blow. 
• — Frank Dempster Sherman 

CALIFORNIA'S ORANGE DAY 

The great State of California — the Golden State — has 
set aside one day which is called " Orange Day" (the first 
day of spring), and to-day is that day. 

We ought all to celebrate this day, for the orange, the 
plum (prune when it is dried), the apple, the peach, the 
grape — those are nature 's most beautiful and precious gifts 
to man. The orange, provided in the winter months, when 
peaches, apples and other fruits are hard to get, or entirely 
lacking, has a value that is not generally understood. It 
is not only a fruit beautiful and delicious, but one most 
important to the human race. 

Those who admire the apple say, "An apple a day will 
keep the doctor away." And there is much truth in the 
statement. It is equally true, in the winter months and 
all through the hot weather as well, of the orange, a friend 
of children, a blessing to the human race. 

Special Day : First day of spring. California 's ' ' Orange 
Day." 

22 SPEING 

Would you think it? Spring has come, 
Winter's paid his passage home; 
Packed his ice-box — gone — half way 
To the arctic pole, they say. 

— Christopher Cranch 



MARCH 165 

Read : ' ' Spring, ' ' from Boston Collection of Kindergar- 
ten Stories; " Spring and Her Helpers," from Poulsson's 
In the Child's World. 

Sing: "Wake Up" and "In the Springtime," from 
Songs in Season. 

Birthdays: Sir Anthony Van Dyke or Van Dyck, a 
famous Flemish painter, born in Antwerp, Belgium, March 
22, 1599; died in London, England, December 9, 1641. 

Johann W. von Goethe, a famous German novel-writer 
and poet, born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, August 
28, 1749 ; died in Weimar, Germany, March 22, 1832. 

Rosa Bonheur, a famous French painter of animals, born 
at Bordeaux, France, March 22, 1822; died in Paris, 
France, May 26, 1899. 

23 ANGEK 

A cheerful temper, joined with innocence, will make 
beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good- 
natured. — A ddison 

THE TWO GARDENERS 

Two gardeners had their crops of peas killed by the frost. 
One of them was very impatient under the loss, and fretted 
about it. The other patiently went to work to plant a new 
crop. After awhile the impatient man came to visit his 
neighbor. To his surprise he found another crop of peas 
growing finely. He asked how this could be. 

"This crop I sowed while you were fretting," said his 
neighbor. 

"But don't you ever fret?" he asked. 

"Yes, I do; but I put it off till I have repaired the mis- 
chief that has been done." 

"Why, then, you have no need to fret at all." 

"True," said his friend; "and that's the reason why I 
put it off." 



166 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Read: " Fairy in the Mirror," from Boston Collection 
of Kindergarten Stories. 

Birthday: Pierre G. T. Beauregard, an American gen- 
eral, born near New Orleans, La., May 23, 1818; died in 
New Orleans, February 20, 1893. 

24 AIM 

Aim well! 
No time is lost by care, 
Haste fails. Beware! Beware! 
A true aim wins, then dare 

Make each aim tell. 

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox 

Birthday : William Morris, an English poet and artist, 
born near London, England, March 24, 1834 ; died October 
3, 1896. 

25 EASTER 

Sing, children, sing! 
And the lily censers swing; 
Sing that life and joy are waking and that Death 

no more is king. 
Sing the happy, happy tumult of the slowly 
brightening Spring; 
Sing, little children, sing! 

— Gelia Thaccter 

EASTER SUNDAY 

This Sunday is the festival of our Lord's resurrection, 
and is one of the most joyous days observed by the Christian 
church. Coming after the self-denials of Lent and at the 
beginning of spring, it seems naturally a time of hope and 
new life. It is the feast of flowers, particularly of lilies, 
and the name had its origin in a festival in honor of Eostre, 
a Saxon goddess, whose festival was celebrated annually in 
the spring. 

Read: "A Song of Easter,' ' by Celia Thaxter; "The 



MARCH 167 

General's Easter Box," from Our Holidays: Retold from 
St. Nicholas; "First-day Thoughts," by Whittier. 

Sing: "Easter," from Songs in Season. 

Special Day: Easter Day. Easter is the Sunday that 
follows the 14th day of the calendar moon, which falls upon 
or next after the 21st of March. 

26 NEATNESS 

Neatness and its reverse are almost a certain test of 
moral character. — Dr. Whitaker 

A NEAT FAMILY 

BY LIZZIE DE ARMOND 

Tap, tap, young Mr. Woodpecker 

Was busy as a bee, 
For he had started out to build 

Up in the cherry tree. 

He cut a dainty little hole, 

The chips flew thick and fast, 
The entry and the living room 

Were finished up at last. 

Upon the polished floor was laid 

Some shaving mats quite fine, 
Where Mrs. Downy Woodpecker 

Might ask her guests to dine. 

No litter lay around the door 

For neighbor folks to see, 
Woodpecker said that tidy ways 

Ran in his family. 

Birthday: Cecil John Rhodes, a South African states- 
man, born at Bishop Strotford, Hertfordshire, England, 






16$ MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

July 5, 1853 ; died in Cape Town, Africa, March 26, 1902. 
(Mr. Bhodes made a large fortune in the diamond mine at 
Kimberley, and left a large part of his money to estab- 
lish the Rhodes Scholarship.) 

27 EXPERIENCE 

O, it's I that am the captain of a tidy little ship, 

Of a ship that goes a-sailing on the pond; 
And my ship it keeps a-turning all around and all about, 
But when I'm a little older, I shall find the secret out, 

How to send my vessel sailing on beyond. 

— Robert Louis Stevenson 

Sing: "What Does Little Birdie Say," from Merry 
Melodies. 

Birthday: Oliver Optic, the pen-name of William Tay- 
lor Adams, an American writer of books for young folks, 
born in Medway, Mass., July 30, 1822; died in Boston, 
Mass., March 27, 1897. 

28 ECONOMY 

"Waste not, want not," be your motto, 
Little things bring weal or woe; 
Save the odds and ends, my children, 
Some one wants them, if not you. 

— Mrs. E. R. Miller 

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT 

A clergyman called on a wealthy merchant of his con- 
gregation, to request a contribution for the church. The 
merchant made out a check for a large amount. 

While sitting at his desk the merchant reproved one of 
his clerks for throwing away a blank sheet of paper. The 
clergyman was greatly surprised, for the man had cer- 
tainly been very generous to the church. Seeing the 
wondering look, the merchant said: 

"If I had not been careful of the little savings I could 
not now have given you that check.' ' 



MARCH 169 

Sing: "You Never Miss the Water," from Uncle Sam's 
School Songs. 

29 INDUSTRY 

If little labor, little are our gains; 
Man's fortunes are according to his pains. 

— Herridk 



AMY STEWART 

There was once a little girl named Amy Stewart, who 
liked to play all day among the flowers and birds. She 
said they talked to her. 

One day her mother said, "You are old enough now, 
Amy, to do a little work, and you must begin early to be 
industrious." 

"Oh mamma! I do not like to work," said Amy; may I 
not go in the woods and play before I begin work?" 

"As I have nothing ready for you to do just now, you 
may go for a little while, ' ' said her mother. 

So Amy ran out of doors. A pretty gray squirrel ran 
across her path, and she called to him, saying: "Dear 
squirrel, have you nothing to do but play and eat nuts, 
have you?" 

"Yes," said Mr. Squirrel, "I have a large family to 
support, and I am busy laying up nuts for the winter, so 
I cannot stop to play with you." 

Just then a bee came buzzing by. Amy said : ' ' Little bee, 
do you have any work to do?" 

"It seems to me I have no time for anything but work, 
getting honey and making the honeycomb." 

Amy now saw an ant carrying off a crumb of bread. 
"Is not that crumb too heavy for you?" she said. "I 
wish you would drop it and play with me." 

"It is heavy, but I am too glad to get it not to be will- 
ing to carry it; but I will stop long enough to tell you 



170 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

of a lazy day we once had. Our home was destroyed, and 
I was too lazy to help rebuild it ; and I said to my brother, 
1 Let us go and travel ; perhaps we will find a house ready- 
made; perhaps the butterflies will play with us.' We 
traveled a long way, but we found no ready-made house, 
and at last were obliged to build one for ourselves. Since 
then we have been contented to do all the work that we 
find necessary. " 

The ant then picked up the crumb of bread and hurried 
away. 

Amy sat down on a stone and thought: "It seems to 
me all creatures have some work to do, and they seem to 
like it; but I do not believe flowers have anything to do. 
So she walked up to a red poppy and said: "Beautiful 
red poppy, do flowers work?" 

"Of course we do," said the poppy. "I have to take 
great care to gather all the red rays the good sun sends 
down to me, and I must keep them in my silken petals 
for you to use, and the green rays must be untangled and 
held by my glossy leaves, and my roots must drink water, 
my flowers must watch the days not to let the seed-time 
pass by — ah, my child, I assure you we are a busy family 
and that is why we are so happy." 

Amy walked slowly homeward and said to her mother: 
"The squirrels, the bees, the ants, and even the flowers 
have something to do. I am the only idle one. Please give 
me some work to do." 

Then her mother brought her a towel to hem, which 
she had begun so long before that she had quite forgotten 
it. She worked very faithfully and in time grew to be 
an industrious woman, and always said that work made 
her happier than idleness. 

Birthday: John Tyler, tenth president of the United 
States, born in Greenway, Va., March 29, 1790; died at 
Richmond, Va., January 17, 1862. 



MARCH 171 

30 KINDNESS 

Little acts of kindness, 

Little deeds of love, 
Make this earth an Eden, 

Like the Heaven above. 

THE HAPPY-FACED BOY 

This is what I saw, sitting behind a blackberry bush one 
lovely spring day, quite out of sight, you understand : 

Over the fence jumped a boy, a sweet, happy-faced boy 
of ten. I knew that he had come from the schoolhouse 
down the road and was going to the spring which bubbled 
up under a rock in my meadow. He was eating his luncheon 
as he walked, had just put the last bit of bread into his 
mouth, and was looking rather eagerly, as though he enjoyed 
the prospect very much, at a slice of delicious-looking cake 
which he held in his hand. Just as he had opened his 
mouth to take the first bite, his eye fell upon a little pail 
under a tree not far from my blackberry bush. I had 
been looking at the little pail, so I knew just what he 
saw; two slices of bread, that is all, and judging from the 
appearance of the owner of the pail — who had left it to 
go to the schoolhouse — that is all there ever was in it. 
Well, my boy looked at the bread and then at the cake in 
his hand. 

"He shall have half," I heard him say; and he took 
hold of the cake as though to break it, then paused. 

"Half is only a mouthful; he shall have it all;" then, 
stooping he laid the delicious cake gently in the little pail, 
and, whistling softly, went on his way to the bubbling 
spring. 

"Ah! no wonder that you are happy-faced, you noble, 
generous boy ! " I said, as I wiped away the tears behind the 
friendly shelter of the blackberry bush. — Little Pilgrim 

Birthday: John Fiske, an American historical writer, 
born in Hartford, Conn., March 30, 1842 ; died July 4, 1901. 



172 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

31 FAME 

Fame is what you have taken, 

Character's what you give; 
When to this truth you awaken, 

Then you begin to live. 

— Bayard Taylor 

Birthdays: Joseph Haydn, a famous German writer of 
music, born at Rohran, Lower Austria, March 31, 1732; 
died in Vienna, Austria, May 31, 1809. 

Andrew Lang, a Scottish writer of poems, stories, novels, 
etc., born at Selkirk, Scotland, March 31, 1844. 



APRIL 



1 ALL FOOLS' DAY 

Good-morning, sweet April, 

So winsome and shy, 
With a smile on your lip 

And a tear in your eye; 
There are pretty nepaticas 

Hid in your hair, 
And bonny blue violets 

Clustering there. 

ALL FOOLS' DAY 

All Fools ' Day is so generally observed that a history 
of its origin will appeal to the interest of pupils. 

The day was first celebrated in 1466 at the Court of 
Burgundy, a province of France. Duke Philip of Bur- 
gundy and his court jester, or fool, agreed that on the first 
day of April each should try his wits to see if he could 
get the better jest on the other. The terms were that if 
the jester succeeded in hoaxing the Duke he was to be 
rewarded with his cap full of gold ducats. If the Duke 
hoaxed the jester the latter was to forfeit his life. Early 
in the morning the Duke gave his jester strong drink and 
the latter partook freely until he became drunk. While 
he was in this condition the Duke summoned some of the 
members of the court, tried the drunken jester, and sen- 
tenced him to death. The executioner was called, the jester 
was blindfolded and was struck a mild blow on the neck 
with a stick under the pretense that it was a sword. Warm 
blood was then poured on his neck to make him think 
he was bleeding. The Duke and others standing by laughed 



174 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

heartily at the deception. But the jester lay seemingly 
lifeless. After a little time some one cried out, " Terror 
has killed him." 

The Duke becoming alarmed sent quickly for the court 
doctors, who came and tried their skill on the supposed 
dead man. Soon thereafter the jester opened his eyes, 
laughed aloud, and said: "April fools, all of you. Now, 
Duke, pay me my gold." From this incident of four and 
a half centuries ago has come the universal custom of jesting 
on April the first. — Popular Educator 

Sing: "April! April! Are You Here," from Songs in 
Season. 

Birthdays: Prince Otto E. L. Bismarck-Schonhausen, a 
famous German statesman and one of the greatest men of 
the nineteenth century, born at Schonhausen, near Magde- 
burg, Germany, April 1, 1815; died on his estate at 
Friedrichsruhe, Germany, July 30, 1898. 

Edwin Austin Abbey, an American painter, born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., April 1, 1852 ; died in London, England, 
Aug. 1, 1911. Most important work: A series of panels 
in the Boston Public Library, "The Quest of the Holy 
Grail." 

Special Day: All Fools' Day. 

2 FREEDOM 

We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all 
men are created equal; that they are endowed by their 
Creator with certain inalienable rights ; and that among 
these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

— Jefferson 

HANS CHRISTIAN ANDEESEN 

There are few children who have not heard of Hans 
Christian Andersen or who have not read some of his 
stories. Hans' father, a poor shoemaker, died when Hans 



APRIL 175 

was nine years old, and his mother wanted Hans to be a 
tailor, but he had higher notions. He was first put to work 
in a factory and then sent to school, but he ran away from 
both because the boys laughed at his ugliness and awk- 
wardness, and thinking it best to let him do as he pleased, 
his mother gave him some money to go to Copenhagen. 
There he was for some time employed in the theater, and 
for a while lived on charity, but at last became acquainted 
with the Councillor Collin, who noticing his brightness, 
got the King to have him educated at the expense of the 
state. At this time he had written a few poems, and when 
about finishing his studies he published a book called A 
Journey on Foot to Amak, in which he made fun of every- 
thing, and which had a large sale and brought him consid- 
erable money. Later he wrote his Fairy Tales and Wonder 
Stories. He never walked the streets of Copenhagen with- 
out attracting crowds of children. The boys took off their 
hats to him and the girls courtesied as he passed, and he 
had a kind word for all. Everybody mourned when he 
died ; and when subscriptions were being taken up to erect 
a monument to him, all the people were anxious to give 
something to help honor the poor shoemaker's son who had 
done so much for the children of all the world. 

Read : Andersen 's ' ' Five Peas in a Pod ' ' and ' ' The Ugly 
Duckling. ' ' 

Birthdays: Thomas Jefferson, third president of the 
United States, born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, Va., 
April 2, 1743 ; died at his estate of Monticello, near Char- 
lottesville, Va., July 4, 1826. 

Hans Christian Andersen, a famous Danish writer for 
young folks, born at Odense, in the island of Flinen, April 
2, 1805 ; died in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 4, 1875. 

Frederic A. Bartholdi, a noted French sculptor, born at 
Colmar, Alsace, France, April 2, 1834; died in Paris, 
France, October 4, 1904. Among his works are the statues 



176 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

of Lafayette in Union Square, New York City, and Liberty 
Enlightening the World, New York Harbor. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Kentucky and Maryland 
(usually early in April). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 
20, this book.) 

3 GREATNESS 

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, 
but great minds rise above it. — Washington Irving 

Read: Hale's The Man Without a Country; Selections 
from Irving 's The Sketch Book. 

Sing: "Do Your Best," and "My Country," from 
Hanson 's Gems of Song. 

Birthdays : Bartolme Esteban Murillo, a famous Spanish 
painter, born in Seville, Spain, in 1617; died in Seville, 
April 3, 1682. 

Washington Irving, a famous American author, born in 
New York City, April 3, 1783; died at Sunnyside, his 
beautiful home at Tarry town, N. Y., November 28, 1859. 

Edward Everett Hale, an American author and clergy- 
man, born in Boston, Mass., April 3, 1822 ; died in Roxbury, 
Mass., June 10, 1909. 

John Burroughs, an American writer of essays, born at 
Roxbury, N. Y., April 3, 1837. 

4 HELPFULNESS 

Look up and not down; look forward and not back; 
look out and not in; lend a hand. — E. E. Hale 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Missouri (Friday after first 
Tuesday in April). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this 
book.) 

5 KIND WOEDS 

A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous 
words stir up anger. — Solomon 



APRIL 177 

MORE PRECIOUS THAN RUBIES 

Would it not please you to pick up strings of pearls, 
drops of gold, diamonds, and precious stones, as you pass 
along the street? It would make you feel happy for a 
month to come. Such a happiness you can give to others. 
Do you ask how ? By dropping sweet words, kind remarks, 
and pleasant smiles, as you pass along. These are true 
pearls and precious stones, which can never be lost; of 
which none can deprive you. Speak to that orphan child; 
see the diamonds drop from her cheeks. Take the hand of 
the friendless boy; bright pearls flash in his eyes. Smile 
on the sad and dejected ; a joy suffuses his cheek more bril- 
liant than the most precious stones. By the wayside, amid 
the city's din, and at the fireside of the poor, drop words 
and smiles to cheer and bless. You will feel happier when 
resting upon your pillow at the close of the day, than if you 
had picked up a score of perishing jewels. The latter fade 
and crumble in time; the former grow brighter with age, 
and produce happy reflections forever. — Selected 

Sing: "Kind Words,' ' from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays: Jules Dupre, a noted French landscape 
painter, born at Nantes, France, April 5, 1811; died at 
L'Isle Adam, France, October 6, 1889. 

Algernon Charles Swinburne, an English poet, born in 
London, England, April 5, 1837 ; died at Putney, England, 
April 10, 1909. 

6 THE VOICE OF APRIL 

April calling, April calling, April calling me! 
I hear the voice of April there in each old apple-tree; 
Bee-boom and wild perfume, and wood-brook melody, 
O hark, my heart, and hear, my heart, the April ecstasy. 

— Madison Cawein 

Read : ' * The Story of a Seed, ' ' from Language Through 
Nature, Literature and Art, 



178 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Sing: " Growing,' ' from Songs in Season. 

Birthday: Raphael (or Raffaelle Sanzio) the greatest of 
Italian painters, born at Urbino, Italy, April 6, 1483 ; died 
April 6, 1520. 

7 KNOWLEDGE 

Books are yours, 
Within whose silent chambers treasure lies 
Preserved from age to age; more precious far 
Than that accumulated store of gold 
And orient gems which, for a day of need, 
The sultan hides deep in ancestral tombs. 
These hoards of truth you can unlock at will. 

— Wordsworth 

SUCCESS IN LIFE 

When Dr. Lyman Beecher was asked how long it took 
him to prepare one of his masterly discourses that had just 
electrified thousands, he promptly replied, " Forty years." 

Birthday : William Wordsworth, a famous English poet, 
born at Cockemouth, Cumberlandshire, England, April 7, 
1770 ; died at Rydal Mount, England, April 23, 1850. 



8 AMBITION 

Better to strive and climb, 

And never reach the goal, 
Than to drift along with time, 

An aimless, worthless soul. 
Aye, better climb and fall, 

Or sow, though the yield be small, 
Than to throw away day after day, 

And never strive at all. 

— Margaret Sangster 

Read : ' ' Gonard and the Pine Tree, ' ' from Bailey and 
Lewis' For the Children's Hour. 

Sing: " Let's Higher Climb," from Uncle Sam's School 
Songs. 



APRIL 179 

9 FLATTEEY 

No flattery, boy! an honest man can't live by it. 

It is a little sneaking art, which knaves 

Use to cajole and soften fools withal. 

If thou hast flattery in thy nature, out with it, 

Or send it to a court where it will thrive. 

— Otway 

AX GRINDING 

BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 

When I was a little boy, I remember, one cold winter's 
morning, I was accosted by a smiling man with an ax on 
his shoulder. ''My pretty boy," said he, "has your father 
a grindstone ? ' ' 

"Yes, sir," said I. 

"You are a fine little fellow!" said he. "Will you let 
me grind my ax on it ? " 

Pleased with the compliment of "fine little fellow," "Oh, 
yes, sir," I answered. "It is down in the shop." 

"And will you, my man," said he, patting me on the 
head, "get me a little hot water?" 

How could I refuse ? I ran, and soon brought a kettleful. 

1 ' How old are you ? — and what 's your name ? ' ' continued 
he, without waiting for a reply. "I'm sure you are one of 
the finest lads that I have ever seen. Will you just turn a 
few minutes for me?" 

Tickled with the flattery, like a little fool, I went to work, 
and bitterly did I rue the day. It was a new ax, and I 
toiled and tugged till I was almost tired to death. The 
school bell rang, and I could not get away. My hands were 
blistered, and the ax was not half ground. 

At length, however, it was sharpened, and the man 
turned to me with, "Now, you little rascal, you've played 
truant! Scud to the school, or you'll rue it!" 

"Alas!" thought I, "it was hard enough to turn a grind- 



180 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

stone this cold day, but now to be called a little rascal is 
too much." 

It sank deep into my mind, and often have I thought of 
it since. When I see a merchant over-polite to his cus- 
tomers, begging them to take a little brandy, and throwing 
his goods on the counter, thinks I, "That man has an ax 
to grind." 

When I see a man flattering the people, making great 
professions of attachment to liberty, who is in private life 
a tyrant, methinks, "Look out, good people! That fellow 
would set you turning grindstones ! ' ' 

When I see a man hoisted into office by party spirit, 
without a single qualification to render him either respect- 
able or useful, ' ' Alas ! ' ' methinks, ' ' deluded people, you are 
doomed for a season to turn the grindstone for a booby. ' ' 

Birthday : Maria Susanna Cummins, an American nov- 
elist, born at Salem, Mass., April 9, 1827; died at Dor- 
chester, Mass., October 1, 1866. Author of The Lamp- 
lighter. 

10 AN APRIL MORNING 

A gush of bird song, a patter of dew, 
A cloud and a rainbow's warning; 

Sudden sunshine and perfect blue — 
An April day in the morning. 

— Harriet Spofford 

Birthday: Lewis Wallace, an American soldier and 
writer, born at Brookville, Ind., April 10, 1827 ; died Feb- 
ruary 15, 1905. Best known for his story called Ben-Hur: 
A Tale of the Christ. 

11 PERSEVERANCE 

Not enjoyment and not sorrow 

la our destined end or way; 
But to act that each to-morrow 

Find us farther than to-day. 
— From "The Psalm of Life," by Longfellow 



APRIL 181 

KEEPING AT IT 

There had been a heavy fall of snow, and a little boy 
was shoveling a path in front of his mother's door. "How 
do you expect to get through that deep snow with so small 
a shovel ? ' ' asked a man, who saw that the child was using 
a coal-shovel. 

There was a determined look on the boy's face. "By 
keeping at it, sir," said the little fellow; "that's how." 

"I believe you are right," said the man ; "that's the way 
to do almost anything." 

Eead: "A Cow His Capital," from Marden's Stories 
from Life; Bible, Prov. 30 : 24-28. 

Sing: "Time is Short," from Silvery Notes. 

Birthday: William Ordway Partridge, an American 
sculptor, born in Paris, France, April 11, 1861; his studio 
is in New York City. 

12 SUCCESS 

I would rather be right than president. 

— Henry Clay 

"PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT" 

Henry Clay, when giving advice to young men, said, "I 
owe my success in life to one circumstance, that at the age 
of twenty-seven I began and continued for years, the process 
of daily reading and speaking upon the contents of some 
historical or scientific book. These off-hand efforts were 
made, sometimes in a cornfield, at others in the forest, and 
not unfrequently in some distant barn, with the horse and 
the ox for my auditors. It is to this early practice of the 
art of all arts that I am indebted for the primary and 
leading impulses that stimulated me onward and have 
shaped and moulded my whole subsequent destiny. ' ' 

Birthday: Henry Clay, an American statesman, born 
near Richmond, Va., April 12, 1777 ; died June 29, 1852. 



182 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

13 FAITH 

Shall we grow weary in our watch, 

And murmur at the long delay? 
Impatient of our Father's time 

And his appointed way? 

— Whittier 

UNDER THE LEAVES 

BY ALBERT LAIGHTON 

Opt have I walked these woodland paths, 
Without the blessed foreknowing 

That underneath the withered leaves 
The fairest buds were growing. 

To-day the south wind sweeps away 
The types of autumn's splendor, 

And shows the sweet arbutus flowers, — 
Spring's children, pure and tender. 

O prophet-flowers! — with lips of bloom, 

Outvying in your beauty, 
The pearly tints of ocean shells, — 

Ye teach me faith and duty ! 

Walk life's dark ways, ye seem to say, 

With love 's divine foreknowing, 
That where man sees but withered leaves, 

God sees sweet flowers growing. 

Read: "The King's Birthday," from Lindsay's Mother 
Stories. 
Sing: "God's Care," from Silvery Notes. 

14 TIME 

There are no fragments so precious as those of time, 
and none so heedlessly lost by people who cannot make 
a moment, and yet can waste years. — Montgomery 



APRIL 183 

Eead: "The Discontented Pendulum" and "What the 
Clock Told Polly," from Poulsson's In the Child's World. 

Birthdays: Christian Huygens, a famous Dutch astron- 
omer, born at The Hague, Netherlands, April 14, 1629 ; died 
at The Hague, July 8, 1695. Known chiefly for his dis- 
coveries in astronomy ; is also the inventor of the pendulum 
clock; and the first watch with a hair-spring was made 
under his direction and sent to England. 

Elbridge S. Brooks, an American writer for young folks, 
born in Lowell, Mass., April 14, 1846 ; died January 7, 1902. 

15 KINDNESS 

How many deeds of kindness 

A little child may do, 
Although it has so little strength, 

And little wisdom too! 
It wants a loving spirit, 

Much more than strength, to prove 
How many things a child may do 

For others, by its love. 

— Lucy Larcom 

QUESTIONS 

Can you put the spider's web back in its place, that once 

has been swept away? 
Can you put the apple again on the bough, which fell at our 

feet to-day? 
Can you put the lily-cup back on the stem, and cause it to 

live and grow? 
Can you mend the butterfly's broken wing, that you crushed 

with a hasty blow ? 
Can you put the bloom again on the grape, or the grape 

again on the vine? 
Can you put the dewdrop back on the flower, and make 

them sparkle and shine? 
Can you put the petals back on the rose? If you could, 

would it smell as sweet? 



184 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Can you put the flower again in the husk, and show me the 

ripened wheat? 
Can you put the kernel back in the nut, or the broken egg 

in its shell ? 
Can you put the honey back in the comb, and cover with 

wax each cell ? 
Can you put the perfume back in the vase, when once it 

has sped away ? 
Can you put the corn-silk back on the corn, or the down 

on the catkins — say ? 
You think my questions are trifling, dear ? Let me ask you 

another one : 
Can a hasty word ever be unsaid, or a deed unkind, undone ? 

— Selected 

Birthday: Lucy Larcom, an American writer, born in 
Beverly, Mass., 1826 ; died in Beverly, Mass., April 15, 1893. 

Special Days : Arbor Day in Utah. Arbor Day in Ohio 
(second or third Friday in April). (See Arbor Dwy, April 
19 and 20.) 

16 COURTESY 

In all the affairs of human life, social as well as 
political, I have remarked that courtesies of a small 
and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest 
to the grateful and appreciating heart. — Henry Clay 

LINCOLN'S SENTIMENT AND AUTOGRAPH 

Abraham Lincoln once received a letter asking for a 
"sentiment" and his autograph. He replied: "Dear 
Madam: When you ask from a stranger that which is of 
interest only to yourself, always inclose a stamp; there's 
your sentiment, and here's your autograph. A. Lincoln." 

Tell about the Wright brothers and their invention of the 
aeroplane (machine heavier than air, driven by an engine). 



APRIL 185 

Read: "Darius Green and His Flying Machine/ ' 
Birthday: Wilbur Wright, an American aeronaut, born 
near Millville, Ind., April 16, 1867. His brother, also an 
aeronaut, was born at Dayton, Ohio, Aug. 19, 1871. 

17 DAY AND NIGHT 

This is the east, where the sun gets up, 

And now we call it day. 
He doesn't stop to yawn or fret; 

He has no time to play. 

This is the west, where the sun goes to bed; 

Slowly he sinks out of sight, 
Then one by one the pretty stars come, 

And now we call it night. 

— Miss 8. C. Peabody 

Sing : ' ' Evening Prayer, ' ' from Kellogg 's Best Primary 
Songs. 

18 WORK 

Never you mind the crowd, lad, 

Nor fancy your life won't tell; 
The work is done for all that, 

To him who doeth it well. 

Fancy the world a hill, lad, 

Look where the millions stop, 
You'll find the crowd at the base, lad, 

But there's always room at the top. 

Read : ' * The Boy Who Wanted to Learn, ' ' from Cabot 's 
Ethics for Children (adapted from Chapter II of Up from 
Slavery, by Booker T. Washington). 

Birthdays : Booker Taliaferro Washington, an American 
writer and educator, born a slave at Hale's Ford, Va., April 
18, 1858 ; lives at Tuskegee, Ala. 

Richard Harding Davis, an American author, born in 
Philadelphia, Pa., April 18, 1864; lives at Mt. Kisco, N. Y. 



186 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

19 ARBOR DAY 

[The Festival of the Trees] 
Showers and sunshine bring, 
Slowly, the deepening verdure o'er the earth; 
To put their foliage out, the woods are slack, 
And one by one the singing birds come back. 

— Bryant 

ARBOR DAY 

Arbor Day is a designated day upon which the people 
and especially the school children plant trees and shrubs 
along the highways and other suitable places. It was first 
observed in Nebraska. The state board of agriculture 
offered prizes for the counties and persons planting the 
largest number of trees, and it is said that more than a 
million trees were planted the first year, while within six- 
teen years over 350,000,000 trees and vines were planted 
in the state. 

This custom, so beautiful and useful, spread rapidly, and 
now is recognized by the statutes of many of the states. 

The exact date naturally varies with the climate. 

— Our Holidays 

Read : Bryant 's ' ' The Planting of the Apple-Tree ' ' and 
"A Forest Hymn; ,, Lucy Larcom's " Plant a Tree." See 
also Kellogg 's How to Celebrate Arbor Day for additional 
material and suggestions. 

Sing: " Arbor Day/' from Songs in Season; "Happy 
Arbor Day" and "The Day of Planting," from Uncle 
Sam's School Songs. 

Special Day : Arbor and Bird Days in Illinois (usually 
the third Friday in April and the third Friday in October). 

20 ARBOR DAY 

[Continued] 

When we plant a tree we are doing what we can to 
make our planet a more wholesome and happier dwell- 
ing place for those who come after us, if not for our- 
selves. — Oliver Wendell Holmes 



APRIL 187 

PLANTING TREES FOR OTHERS 

A very poor and aged man, busied in planting and graft- 
ing an apple tree, was rudely interrupted by this interro- 
gation : ' ' Why do you plant trees, who cannot hope to eat 
the fruit of them?" He raised himself up, and leaning 
upon his spade, replied: "Some one planted trees for me 
before I was born, and I have eaten the fruit ; I now plant 
for others, that the memorial of my gratitude may exist 
when I am dead and gone. ' ' 

Birthday : Daniel C. French, an American sculptor, born 
at Exeter, N. H., April 20, 1850; has his studio in New 
York City. Among his works are the "Minute Man of 
Concord," at Concord, Mass., the colossal statue of "The 
Republic," Columbian Exposition, Chicago, and others. 

21 HEROISM 

Heroism is simple, and yet it is rare. Every one who 
does the best he can is a hero. — Josh Billings. 

Birthdays: Friedrich Froebel, a German teacher, 
founder of the kindergarten system, born at Oberweissbach, 
Germany, April 21, 1782; died at Marienthal, Germany, 
June 21, 1852. 

Henry Wheeler Shaw, an American humorist, best known 
under his pen-name of "Josh Billings," born at Lanes- 
borough, Mass., April 21, 1818; died in Monterey, Cal., 
October 14, 1885. 

John Charles Van Dyke, an American author, born in 
New Brunswick, N. J., April 21, 1856; lives in New 
Brunswick. 

22 BIRD DAY 

There is a bird I know so well, 
It seems as if he must have sung 
Beside my crib when I was young; 

Before I knew the way to spell 



188 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

The name of even the smallest bird, 
His gentle, joyful song I heard. 
—From "The Song Sparrow" by Henry Van Dyke 

Read: Miller's True. Bird Stories; Bible, Song of Solo- 
mon 2 : 11-12. Have pupils collect and recite quotations 
about birds from various authors. 

Sing: "Bird Day," "The Bluebird," "Little Blue 
Jay," "Bob White," "Crow Calculations," "Little Bird 
with Eager Wing," "Robert of Lincoln," "The Sparrow," 
' ' The Clacker, ' ' all in Songs in Season. 

Birthday: James Buchanan, fifteenth president of the 
United States, born at Stony Batter, Franklin County, Pa., 
April 22, 1791; died on his farm called Wheatlands, at 
Lancaster, Pa., June 1, 1868. 



23 TRUTH 

This above all, to thine own self be true; 
And it must follow as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 
— Shakespeare 

Read: Story of Shakespeare's life, from Baldwin's 
Reader, Book 8; Jones' Reader, Book 4; or Cyr's Reader, 
Book 5. 

Birthdays: William Shakespeare, the greatest English 
playwriter and poet, born in Stratford-upon-Avon, War- 
wickshire, England, in April, 1564 ; died at Stratford-upon- 
Avon, April 23, 1616. 

Joseph M. W. Turner, a famous English painter, born in 
London, England, April 23, 1775; died in Chelsea, Eng- 
land, December 19, 1851. 

Stephen A. Douglas, an American statesman, born in 
Brandon, Vt., April 23, 1813; died in Chicago, 111., June 
3, 1861. 

Edwin Markham, an American poet, born in Oregon City, 
Ore., April 23, 1852 ; lives at West New Brighton, N. Y. 



APRIL 189 

Thomas Nelson Page, an American author, born in Han- 
over County, Va., April 23, 1853. 

24 HONOR 

Handsome is as handsome does. — Goldsmith 

Bead: Goldsmith's The Deserted Village and The Vicar 
of Wakefield; biography of Goldsmith, from Baldwin's 
Reader, Book ?, or Cyr's Reader, Book 5. Biography of 
Daniel Defoe in Graded Literature Reader, Book 5; Bible, 
Prov. 27 : 9-10. 

Sing: "Robinson Crusoe,' ' from Songs Every One 
Shoidd Know. 

Birthdays : Daniel Defoe, a famous English writer, au- 
thor of Robinson Crusoe, born in London, England, in 1661 ; 
died in London, April 24, 1731. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Nebraska and (usually) in 
New Jersey (third Friday in April). (See Arbor Day, 
April 19 and 20.) 

25 SELF-SACRIFICE 

Hang me to the yard-arm of your ship, if you will, 
but do not ask me to become a traitor to my country. 

— Nathan Coffin 

A REAL HERO 

The British troops were occupying Yorktown, which 
was besieged by the Revolutionary army. Governor Nelson 
had his residence at Yorktown, and one would suppose that 
he would have been anxious to protect it. The Federal 
troops were bombarding the town, when General Lafayette 
said to Nelson, "To what particular spot would your 
Excellency direct that we point the cannon?" " There," 
promptly replied the noble-minded patriot — "to that house; 
it is mine and is the best one you can find in the town; 
there you will be most certain to find Lord Cornwallis and 



190 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

the British headquarters. ' ' This incident is narrated in 
Cnstis ' life of Washington, a volume which contains many 
thrilling anecdotes that show the self-sacrificing spirit of 
those early heroes who by their toils and sufferings laid 
the foundation of our national life and glory. 

Tell the children something about wireless telegraphy and 
the graphophone. 

Sing: "The Battle Prayer," from Songs Every One 
Should Know. 

Birthdays: Constance Cary Harrison (Mrs. Burton 
Harrison), an American writer of novels and stories, born 
in Virginia, April 25, 1846 ; lives in Washington, D. C. 

Charles Sumner Tainter, an American inventor, born in 
Watertown, Mass., April 25, 1854; lives in Washington, 
D. C. He was the inventor of the graphophone. 

Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, born at Griff one, 
near Bologna, Italy, April 25, 1874. Inventor of wireless 
telegraphy. 

26 CHAEACTER 

The fruit, when the blossom is blighted, will fall; 
The sin will be searched out, no matter how small; 
So what you're ashamed to do, don't do at all. 

— Alice Cary 

Read: Alice Cary's "The Pig and the Hen," "A Les- 
son of Mercy," "Work," "Don't Give Up," and "Old 
Maxims;" Bible, Prov. 12:19-22. (See "The Story of 
Phoebe Cary," September 4, this book.) 

Birthdays: Alice Cary, an American poet, born near 
Cincinnati, Ohio, April 26, 1820; died in New York City, 
February 12, 1871. 

Martha Finley, the pen-name of Martha Farquharson, an 
American writer for young folks, born in Chillicothe, Ohio, 
April 26, 1828; died in Elkton, Md., Jan. 30, 1909. 

Charles F. Browne (Artemas Warde), an American 



APRIL 191 

humorist, born at Waterford, Me., April 26, 1834; died in 
Southampton, England, March 6, 1867. 

27 TEYING 

"I'll try" is a soldier, 
"I will" is a king; 
Be sure they are near 
When the school bells ring. 

When school days are over, 
And boys are men, 
"I'll try" and "I will" 
Are good friends then. 

TOIL SPELLS SUCCESS 

Samuel F. B. Morse was the discoverer of the telegraph. 
The magnetic principle on which the invention depends had 
been known since 1774, but Professor Morse was the first 
to apply that principle for the benefit of men. He began 
his experiments in 1832, and five years afterward succeeded 
in obtaining a patent on his invention. Then followed 
another long delay ; and it was not until the last day of the 
session in 1843 that he procured from Congress an appro- 
priation of $30,000. With that appropriation was con- 
structed, between Baltimore and Washington, the first tele- 
graphic line in the world. Perhaps no other invention has 
exercised a more beneficent influence on the welfare of the 
human race. 

Read: Owen Wister's short life of Ulysses S. Grant. 

Birthdays: Samuel F. B. Morse, the inventor of the 
electric telegraph, born in Charlestown, Mass., April 27, 
1791 ; died in New York City, April 2, 1872. 

Herbert Spencer, a famous English philosopher, born in 
Derby, England, April 27, 1820 ; died in Brighton, England, 
December 8, 1903. 

Ulysses Simpson Grant, eighteenth president of the 



192 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

United States, born at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822 ; 
died at Mt. Gregor, N. Y., July 23, 1885. 

28 POLITENESS 

Good manners cannot be put on at pleasure, like an 
outside coat, but must belong to us. 

"THE POLITEST CLERK' ' 

"One time when Ulysses S. Grant was in Chicago," said 
an army official, "he lounged about Sheridan's headquar- 
ters a good deal. His son Fred was, at that time, on Sheri- 
dan 's staff, but was absent one day; and Grant took his 
place at Fred's desk, to look after the business. A nervous, 
fidgety, irritable old fellow came in to inquire for some 
paper that he had left with Fred. When he stated his case, 
Grant took up the matter in a sympathetic way, and pro- 
ceeded, after the manner of an over-anxious clerk, to look 
the paper up. The document could not be found; and 
Grant, apologizing, walked with the old gentleman to the 
door. As I walked down the stairs with the mollified visitor, 
he turned and asked : ' Who is that old codger ? He is the 
politest clerk I ever saw at military headquarters. I hope 
that Sheridan will keep him. ' I answered quietly, * That is 
General Grant.' The fidgety old gentleman, after staring 
at me for a full minute, said, with considerable fervor, 'I 
will give you fifty cents, if you will kick me downstairs.' " 

— Chicago Tribune 

Head: "The Monroe Doctrine," declaring that the 
United States would not interfere in any European war, 
nor permit any European power to get too much influence 
on this hemisphere. (During Monroe's first term, Illinois, 
Mississippi and Maine beeame states of the Union and 
Spain gave up her possessions in Florida to the United 
States. Monroe was one of the best presidents this country 
has ever had.) 



APRIL 193 

Birthdays : James Monroe, fifth president of the United 
States, born in Westmoreland County, Va., April 28, 1758 ; 
died in New York City, July 4, 1831. 

James Grant Wilson, an American author, born in New 
York City, April 28, 1832 ; lives in New York City. 



29 SOWING 

The best and highest thing a man can do in a day is 
to sow a seed, whether it be in the shape of a word, an 
act, or an acorn. 



ARBOR DAY 

Painter of the fruits and flowers, 

We thank thee for thy wise design, 
Whereby these human hands of ours 

In Nature's garden work with thine. 

Give fools their gold; give knaves their power; 

Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; 
Who sows a field, or trains a flower 

Or plants a tree, is more than all. 

Special Days: Arbor Day in Michigan and Massachu- 
setts (last Friday in April). Arbor Day in Connecticut 
(last Friday in April or first Friday in May). Arbor Day 
in Minnesota and Vermont (latter part of April or first 
part of May). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, 
this book.) 

30 PLEASURES 

Pleasures are like poppies spread, 

You seize the flower, its bloom is shed; 

Or like a snowflake in the river, 

A moment white then lost forever. 

— Burns 



194 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

THE PLEASURE OF DOING GOOD 

A newsboy took the Sixth Avenue elevated railroad cars 
at Park Place, New York, at noon on Thanksgiving Day, 
and sliding into one of the cross seats fell asleep. At 
Grand Street two young women got on and took seats 
opposite the lad. His feet were bare and his hat had fallen 
off. Presently one of the young girls leaned over and 
placed her muff under the little fellow's dirty cheek. An 
old gentleman smiled at the act, and, without saying any- 
thing, held out a quarter with a nod toward the boy. The 
girl hesitated for a moment and then reached for it. The 
next man as silently offered a dime, a woman across the 
aisle held out some pennies, and before she knew it, the 
girl, with flaming cheeks, had taken money from every 
passenger in that end of the car. She quietly slipped the 
amount into the sleeping lad's pocket, removed her muff 
gently from under his head without arousing him, and got 
off at Twenty-third street, including all the passengers in 
a pretty little inclination of her head that seemed full of 
thanks. — Exchange 

Sing : * * Merry Springtime, ' ' from Merry Melcrdies. 



MAY 

1 MAY-DAY 

Who shall be queen of the May? 
Not the prettiest one, not the wittiest one! 

Nor she with the gown most gay! 

But she that is pleasantest all the day through, 
With the pleasantest things to say and to do, — 

Oh, she shall be Queen of the May! 

MAY-DAY IN ENGLAND 

In England the first day of May was in the olden time 
the most delightful holiday of all the year. It was the day 
on which the nation expressed its joy at the return of 
summer. The wild flowers were in bloom and it was suffi- 
ciently warm for out-of-door parties. Early in the morn- 
ing the merry girls often covered themselves with gowns 
of green leaves and garlands of flowers. The jolly boys 
blew their horns and waved the branches of trees which 
they had gathered in the woods. This is what is called 
bringing home the May. 

In the afternoon the children would all meet on the lawn 
or village green and dance around the Maypole. They 
would choose one girl to be queen of the May, and would 
crown her head with flowers and place a mat of flowers 
under her feet. 

Read: Tennyson's "The May Queen;" "May," by 
Celia Thaxter. 

Sing : ' ' The May Queen ' ' and ' ' May Day, ' ' from Songs 
in Season; "May," from Merry Melodies; "May-Day 
Song," from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays : John Dry den, an English poet, born at Aid- 



196 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

winkle, Northamptonshire, England, August 9, 1631; died 
May 1, 1700. 

Joseph Addison, an English author, born at Milston, 
Wiltshire, England, May 1, 1672 ; died June 17, 1719. 

Arthur W. (Duke of) Wellington, a famous British gen- 
eral and statesman, born near Dublin, Ireland, May 1, 1769 ; 
died near Deal, England, Sept. 14, 1852. 

George Innes, an American painter, born in Newburgh, 
N. Y., May 1, 1825 ; died in Scotland, Aug. 3, 1894. He 
was one of the best of American landscape painters. 

Jules A. Breton, a French painter, born at Courrieres, 
France, May 1, 1827. 

2 EKBORS 

Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow, 
He who would search for pearls must dive below. 

— Dryden 

Birthdays : Leonardo da Vinci, a famous Italian painter, 
born near Florence, Italy, in 1452; died near Amboise, 
France, May 2, 1519. 

William Clyde Fitch, an American author and play- 
wright, born in New York City, May 2, 1865; died in 
France, Sept. 4, 1909. 

3 KINDNESS 

I shall pass this way but once. Any good thing there- 
fore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to 
any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it 
or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. 

— Gilpin 

GENEROUS FORBEARANCE 

A man who had done Sir Matthew Hale a great injury 
came afterward to him for his advice in the settlement of 
his estate. Sir Matthew gave his advice very frankly to 
him, but would accept of no fee for it ; and thereby showed, 



MAY 197 

both that he could forgive as a Christian, and that he had 
the spirit of a gentleman, not to take money from one who 
had wronged him so grievously. When he was asked how 
he could use a man so kindly who had wronged him so 
much, his answer was, he thanked God he had learned to 
forget injuries. 

Special Days: Arbor Day in Maine (usually the early 
part of May). Arbor Day in New York (Friday following 
first day of May). Arbor Day in North Dakota (first Fri- 
day in May). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 



4 AUDUBON'S BIETHDAY 

God sent his singers upon earth 
With songs of gladness and of mirth 
That they might touch the hearts of men 
And bring them back to heaven again. 

— Longfellow 

A LESSON IN PERSEVERANCE 

Audubon, the celebrated American ornithologist, relates 
the following story of how he learned a lesson of perse- 
verance under adversity : ' ' An accident, ' ' he says, ' ' which 
happened to two hundred of my original drawings, nearly 
put a stop to my researches in ornithology. I shall relate 
it, merely to show how far enthusiasm — for by no other 
name can I call my perseverance — may enable the preserver 
of nature to surmount the most disheartening difficulties. 
I left the village of Henderson, in Kentucky, situated on 
the banks of the Ohio, where I resided for several years, to 
proceed to Philadelphia on business. I looked to my draw- 
ings before my departure, placed them carefully in a 
wooden box, and gave them in charge of a relative, with 
injunctions to see that no injury should happen to them. 
My absence was of several months; and when I returned, 
after having enjoyed the pleasures of home for a few days, 



198 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

I inquired after my box, and what I was pleased to call my 
treasure. The box was produced and opened; but, reader, 
feel for me — a pair of Norway rats had taken possession 
of the whole, and reared a young family among the gnawed 
bits of paper, which, but a month previous, represented 
nearly a thousand inhabitants of air! The burning heat 
which instantly rushed through my brain was too great to 
be endured without affecting my whole nervous system. I 
slept for several nights, and the days passed like days of 
oblivion — until the animal powers being recalled into action 
through the strength of my constitution, I took up my gun, 
my note-book and my pencils, and went forth to the woods 
as gayly as if nothing had happened. I felt pleased that I 
might now make better drawings than before; and ere a 
period not exceeding three years had elapsed, my portfolio 
was again filled.' ' 

Read: Lucy Larcom's "The Wounded Curlew ;" "The 
Birds of Killingsworth ; ' ' "How the Robin Got Its Red 
Breast," from Cooke's Nature Myths and Stories; "Antics 
in the Bird Room," from Miller's True Bird Stories. 

Sing: Songs as given under "Bird Day," April 22, this 
book. 

Birthdays: John James Audubon, a celebrated Ameri- 
can writer on birds, born in Louisiana, May 4, 1780 ; died 
in New York, January 27, 1851. 

Horace Mann, an American educator, born at Franklin, 
Mass., May 4, 1796 ; died at Yellow Springs, Ohio, August 
2, 1859. 

William H. Prescott, a famous American historian, born 
at Salem, Mass., May 4, 1796 ; died in Boston, Mass., Janu- 
ary 28, 1859. 

Thomas H. Huxley, an English writer on natural his- 
tory, born in Middlesex, England, May 4, 1825; died at 
Eastbourne, England, June 29, 1895. 



MAY 199 

5 TIME 

Use dispatch. Remember that the world only took 
six days to create. Ask me for whatever you please, 
except time; that is the only thing which is beyond my 
power. — 'Napoleon 

Birthday: Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France, 
born in Ajaccio, Corsica, August 15, 1769; died on the 
island of St. Helena, May 5, 1821. 

6 GOOD DEEDS 

Every gentle word you say, 
One dark spirit drives away; 
Every gentle deed you do 
One bright spirit brings to you. 
— Virginia Harrison 

Tell about Peary's North Pole expedition and about 
radium. (A grain of radium about the size of a pin-head 
is valued at several thousand dollars.) 

Birthdays: Robert E. Peary, an American explorer, 
born at Cresson, Pa., May 6, 1856. 

Pierre Curie, a famous French chemist and physicist, 
born in Paris, France, May 6, 1859 ; killed by a street acci- 
dent, April 19, 1906. He and his wife discovered radium. 

Frank Dempster Sherman, an American poet, born at 
Peekskill, N. Y., May 6, 1860 ; lives in New York City. 

7 DUTY 

Be a Man! 
Bear thine own burden, never think to thrust 
Thy fate upon another. 

— Robert Browning 

Read: "An Incident of the French Camp," by Robert 
Browning, from Cyr's Reader, Book 4; "The Pied Piper," 
from Jones' Reader, Book 4; biography, from Baldwin's 
Reader, Book 8. 

Birthdays: Robert Browning (husband of Elizabeth 



200 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Barrett Browning), a celebrated English poet, born at 
Camberwell, near London, England, May 7, 1812; died 
December 12, 1889. 

Johannes Brahms, a famous German composer of music, 
born in Hamburg, Germany, May 7, 1833 ; died in Vienna, 
Austria, April 3, 1897. 



8 CHEEKFULNESS 

A cheerful temper joined with innocence, will make 
beauty attractive, knowledge delightful, and wit good- 
natured. It will lighten sickness, poverty and affliction, 
convert ignorance to an amiable simplicity, and render 
deformity itself agreeable. — Addison 

WHERE THE SHINE CAME FROM 

"Well, Grandma,' ' said a little boy, resting his elbows 
on the old lady's stuffed chair-arm, "what have you been 
doing here at the window all day by yourself ? ' ' 

"All I could," answered dear Grandma cheerily; "I 
have read a little, and prayed a good deal and then looked 
out at the people. There's one little girl, Arthur, whom I 
have learned to watch for. She has sunny brown hair, and 
her eyes have the same sunny look in them, and I wonder 
every day what makes her look so bright. Ah! here she 
comes now." 

Arthur took his elbows off the stuffed arm, and planted 
them on the window-sill. 

"That girl with the brown dress on?" he cried. "Why, 
I know that girl. That's Susie Moore, and she has a 
dreadfully hard time, Grandma. ' ' 

"Has she?" said Grandma. "Well, Arthur, wouldn't 
you like to know where she gets all that brightness from, 
then?" 

"I'll ask her," said Arthur, promptly; and he raised 
the window and called : 



MAY 201 

"Susie, Susie, come up here a minute; Grandma wants 
to see you ! ' ' 

The brown eyes opened wide in surprise, but the little 
maid turned at once and came in. 

''Grandma wants to know, Susie Moore," explained the 
boy, "what makes you look so bright all the time?" 

"Why, I have to," said Susie. "You see, Father has 
been ill a long while, and Mother is tired out with nursing, 
and the baby is cross with her teeth, and if I were not 
bright, who would be?" 

"Yes, yes, I see," said dear old Grandma, putting her 
arms around this little ray of sunshine. "Shine on, little 
girl; there couldn't be a better reason for shining than 
because it is dark at home." 

Read: "Making the Best of It," and "Pippa Passes," 
from Bailey and Lewis' For the Children's Hour; "The 
Desert" and "The Walled Garden," from Richards' The 
Golden Windows. 

Sing: "The Merry Children," from Merry Melodies. 

Birthday: Augusta Jane (Evans) Wilson, an American 
novelist, born in Columbus, Ga., May 8, 1835; died in 
Mobile, Ala., May 9, 1909. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Montana (second Tuesday 
in May). (See Ardor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 



9 WOEK 

Ho, all who labor, all who strive! 

Ye wield a mighty power; 
Do with your might, do with your strength, 

Fill every golden hour! 
The glorious privilege to do 

Is man's most noble dower. 
Oh to your birthright and yourselves, 

To your own souls be true! 
A weary, wretched life is theirs 

Who have no work to do. 

— Caroline F. Orne 



202 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Birthdays: William Bradford, one of the Pilgrim 
Fathers and second governor of Plymouth colony, born at 
Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, in 1588 ; died at Plymouth, 
Mass., May 9, 1657. 

John Brown, an American abolitionist, born in Torring- 
ton, Conn., May 9, 1800; hanged at Charlestown, Va., 
December 2, 1859. 

Adolph Schreyer, a German painter, born at Frankfort- 
on-the-Main, Germany, May 9, 1828; died at Kronberg, 
Prussia, July 30, 1899. 

James Matthew Barrie, a Scottish novelist, born at Kirrie- 
muir, Scotland, May 9, 1860 ; lives at Kirriemuir. Author 
of The Little Minister, etc. 



10 MOTHER'S DAY 

[Second Sunday in May] 

MOTHER'S DAY 

The idea of a national Mother's Day originated with 
Miss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, and the second Sunday 
in May was the chosen day. A white carnation was desig- 
nated as the flower to be worn in honor of Mother. 

On this day acts of kindness are done in the home, letters 
are written to mothers by children away from home, and 
sermons preached and services held in honor of the mothers 
of our land. 

Many schoolrooms celebrate Mother's Day with programs 
of recitations and songs on Friday preceding the Sunday 
chosen for the observance of the occasion. 

SOMEBODY'S MOTHER 

When our train reached Clinton, the conductor entered 
the car, and, taking the bundles of a very old lady, care- 
fully helped her to the platform, and then, giving her his 



MAY 203 

arm, conducted her to the waiting room, and placed her 
bundles beside her. He then signaled the engineer, and 
boarded the moving train. Struck by this unusual civility 
to a poor woman, a gentleman said, "I beg your pardon, 
Mr. Conductor. Was that old lady your mother?" "No," 
said the conductor, "but she is somebody's mother." 

— Sanford 

Read: "My Good-f or-Nothing, ' ' by Emily Huntington 
Miller; "A Mother's Secret," by O. W. Holmes; "A 
Mother's Love," by James Montgomery; "O Mother-My- 
Love," by Eugene Field; "Mother Love," by W. C. 
Bryant; "Mother Love," by James Whitcomb Riley; "My 
Mother," by Jane Taylor; "Just a Little Mother," by Mar- 
garet Sangster, "Rock Me to Sleep," by Elizabeth Akers. 

Sing: "Mother Day," from Songs in Season. 

Birthdays: Count de Rochambeau, a French soldier, 
who was sent to command the French troops in America, 
where he remained helping "Washington until peace was 
declared (1783), when he returned to France, was born 
in Vendome, France, July 1, 1725; died in France, May 
10, 1807. 

James Bryce, a British diplomatist and statesman, born 
in Belfast, Ireland, May 10, 1838 ; living at Hindleap, Sus- 
sex, England. Distinguished as an author, his best known 
work being The American Commonwealth. 

11 MOTHER'S DAY 

[Continued] 

THE WHITE CARNATION 

BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER 

Here's to the white carnation, 

Sturdy and spicy and sweet, 
Wafting a breath of perfume 

On the stony way of the street; 



204 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Bringing a thought of gladness 
"Wherever the breezes blow; 

Here 's to the white carnation, 
Pure as the virgin snow. 

This is the flower for Mother, 

Wear it on Mother 's Day ; 
Flower for rain and sunshine, 

"Winsome, gallant and gay; 
Wear it in mother's honor 

Pinned to the coat's lapel; 
Wear it in belt and corsage, 

For her who loved you well. 

The mother in lowly cabin, 

The mother in palace hall, 
Is ever the best and dearest 

The one we love best of all. 
In travail and pain she bore us, 

In laughter and love she nursed, 
And who that would shame a mother 

Is of all mankind accursed. 

Tired and wan too often, 

Weary and weak at times, 
But always full of the courage 

That thrills when the future chimes; 
Mother with hands toil-hardened, 

Mother in pearls and lace, 
The light of heavenly beauty 

Shines in your tender face. 

So here's to the white carnation, 

Wear it on Mother 's Day ; 
Flower that blooms for mother, 

Winsome, gallant and gay. 



MAY 205 

Flower of a perfect sweetness, 

Flower for hut and hall, 
Here 's to the white carnation 

And to Mother— Our Best of All. 

Birthday : John Brown, a Scottish physician and au- 
thor, born at Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland, September, 
1810 ; died May 11, 1882. Author of Bab and His Friends. 

Special Day: Arbor Day in Rhode Island (second Fri- 
day in May). (See Arbor Day, April 19 and 20, this book.) 

12 MERCY 

Teach me to feel another's woe, 

To hide the fault I see; 
That mercy I to others show, 

That mercy show to me. 

— Pope 

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE 

Florence Nightingale early exhibited an intense devo- 
tion to the alleviation of suffering, which, in 1844, led her 
to give attention to the condition of hospitals. She visited 
and inspected civil and military hospitals all over Europe ; 
and in 1851 went into training as a nurse. In 1854 war 
was declared with Russia, and the hospitals on the Bos- 
phorus soon were crowded with sick and wounded. In 
this crisis Miss Nightingale offered to go out and organize 
a nursing-department at Scutari. Lord Herbert accepted 
her services, and she departed with thirty- four nurses. She 
arrived at Constantinople, November 4th, on the eve of 
Inkermann, in time to receive the wounded into wards 
already filled with 2,300 patients, and a few months after 
her arrival she had 10,000 sick men under her care. In 
1855, while in the Crimea, she was prostrated with fever, 
but refused to leave her post, and on her recovery remained 
at Scutari till Turkey was evacuated by the British, July 
28, 1856. At the close of the Crimean War a fund of 



206 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

$250,000 was subscribed for the purpose of enabling her 
to form an institution for the training of nurses; this is 
spent in connection with St. Thomas' (the Nightingale 
Home) and at King's College Hospital. 

Read : The story of the life of Florence Nightingale, by 
Laura E. Richards; Longfellow's ''Santa Filomena," which 
was written in her praise and honor. Tell also the story of 
Clara Barton (see The Bed Cross, October 26, this book), 
who has been to the American soldier what Florence Night- 
ingale was to his British cousin. 

Sing : ' ' The Long Weary Day, ' ' from Songs Every One 
Should Know; "Nearer, My God, to Thee," from American 
School Songs. 

Birthdays : Florence Nightingale, an English lady noted 
for her care of the sick and wounded in the Crimean War, 
born of English parents, in Florence, Italy, May 12, 1820 ; 
died in London, England, August 13, 1910. 

Henry Cabot Lodge, an American historian, born in 
Boston, Mass., May 12, 1850. 

13 GOODNESS 

Ring in new school-books and new toys; 
Ring out all things that ruin boys; 
Ring out the smoker and the smoke; 
Ring out old habit's ugly yoke. 
Ring out the swearer from the street; 
Ring out the fighter and the cheat; 
Ring out the child that doesn't care; 
Ring in good children everywhere. 

14 GREATNESS 

From a little spark may burst a mighty flame. 

— Dante 

15 LITTLE THINGS 

Little moments make an hour; 

Little thoughts, a book; 
Little seeds, a tree or flower; 

Water-drops, a brook; 
Little deeds of faith and love 
Make a home for you above. 



MAY 207 

16 EIGHT AND WKONG 

Little by little the world grows strong, 
Fighting the battles of right and wrong; 
Little by little the wrong gives way; 
Little by little the right has sway; 
Little by little all longing souls 
Struggle up near the shining goals. 

KEEP TO THE RIGHT 

* ' Keep to the right, ' ' as the law directs, 

For such is the rule of the road : 
Keep to the right, whoever expects 

Securely to carry life's load. 

Keep to the right, with God and his word ; 

Nor wander, though folly allure; 
Keep to the right, nor ever be turned 

From what's faithful and holy and pure. 

Keep to the right, within and without, 
With stranger and kindred and friend ; 

Keep to the right, and you need have no doubt, 
That all will be well in the end. 

Keep to the right in whatever you do, 

Nor claim but your own on the way ; 
Keep to the right, and hold on to the true, 

From the morn to the close of life's day. 

Read: "The Immortal Fountain," from Poulsson's In 
the CMWs World; "The Little Girl with the Light," from 
Lindsay's Mother Stories. 

Birthdays : Honore de Balzac, a noted French writer of 
novels, born at Tours, France, May 16, 1799 ; died in Paris, 
France, August 20, 1850. 

William Henry Seward, a noted American statesman, 



208 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

born in Florida, Orange County, N. Y., May 16, 1801 ; died 
in Auburn, N. Y., October 10, 1872. 

17 DEEDS 

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; 
In feelings, not in figures on a dial. 
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives 
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best. 

— P. J. Bailey 

A BENEFACTOR OF MANKIND 

Edward Jenner, a noted English physician, made the 
discovery that vaccinating people with cow-pox would save 
them from taking smallpox, a disease long common in 
Europe. He got his idea from hearing that peasants who 
had accidentally caught the cow-pox from milking cows 
diseased with it were free from smallpox. He worked many 
years to find a sure way of vaccinating one person from 
another, as well as from the pock of a cow ; and although he 
proved it a success, it took many years more to get the 
London physicians to believe it. At last, about the year 
1800, vaccination began to be widely practiced, and soon 
spread all over the globe. Wealth and honor were bestowed 
on Dr. Jenner, and he was called a benefactor of mankind. 

Birthday: Edward Jenner, a noted English physician, 
born in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, England, May 17, 1749 ; 
died at Berkeley, January 26, 1823. 

18 PEACE DAY 

Peace has her victories, 
No less renown'd than war. 

— Milton 

THE HAGUE PEACE CONFERENCE 

On the 18th of May, 1899, the Czar of Russia called the 
first peace conference at The Hague, in Holland, and one 



MAY 209 

hundred representatives met in that city, in Queen Wil- 
helmina's little palace called "The Home in the Woods." 
For three months they sat behind closed doors in a circular 
hall decorated with large paintings commemorating the 
Peace of Munster. In that hall is inscribed the motto ' ' The 
greatest victory is that by which peace is won. " The results 
of that conference were as follows: A permanent inter- 
national tribunal was established with over seventy perma- 
nent judges, four of whom were to be appointed by the 
United States. That tribunal opened in 1901. Andrew 
Carnegie donated $1,500,000 for the erection of a building. 
The first case before that tribunal was submitted by the 
United States and Mexico. By its provisions for mediation 
President Roosevelt made possible the Portsmouth treaty 
between Japan and Russia. 

The second Hague conference met June 15, 1907, repre- 
sentatives of all the nations of the globe were present, and 
it was in session four months. It was the most august 
assembly in human history. Some of the important matters 
that failed of the unanimous acceptance necessary were 
accepted by a large majority. Provision was made for a 
third conference to assemble within eight years. A world 
court was agreed upon to try cases by international law. 
That court has fifteen judges, and in addition to it there 
is a tribunal of arbitration. Notable harmony and cour- 
tesy existed among all the delegates. Several nations, 
among them the five Central American states, have agreed 
to arbitrate every question arising between them. 

O! make Thou us through centuries long, 
In peace secure, in justice strong; 
Around our gift of freedom draw 
The safeguard of Thy righteous law. 

— Whittier 

Read: "Angel of Peace," by O. W. Holmes; "The 
People's Song of Peace," by Joaquin Miller. 

Sing : "The Message of Peace, " " The Dawn of Peace, ' ' 



210 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

and "The Song of Peace/ ' from May Intermediate Plan 
Book, by Marian M. George. 

Special Day : Peace Day, the 18th day of May. 

19 CHARACTER 

No fountain is so small but that heaven may be 
imaged in its bosom. — Hawthorne 

Read: Biography of Hawthorne, from Jones' Reader, 
Book 4; The Or eat Stone Face; The Miraculous Pitcher. 

Birthday: Nathaniel Hawthorne, a famous American 
author, born in Salem, Mass., July 4, 1804; died in Plym- 
outh, Mass., May 19, 1864. 

20 DUTY 

So nigh is grandeur to our dust, 

So near is God to man, 
When Duty whispers low, Thou must, 

The youth replies, / can. 

— Emerson 

Birthday: Albert Diirer, a noted German painter and 
engraver, born in Nuremberg, Germany, May 20, 1471 ; died 
in Nuremberg, April 6, 1528. 

21 FLOWER DAY 

Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way, 
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold, 
First pledge of blithesome May. 

— From "To a Dandelion," by Lowell 

Read: "Little Ida's Flowers" and "Angel" from An- 
dersen's Wonder Stories; "Garden Farm," from Richards' 
More Five Minute Stories. Have pupils collect and recite 
quotations about flowers from various authors. 

Sing: "Pansies," "Daisies in the Meadows," "Forget- 
Me-Not," "A Sweet Pea," "Stars and Posies," "Butter- 
cups and Daisies" and "Daisy Nurses" from Songs in 
Season. 



MAY 211 

22 ORDER 

Order is Heaven's first law. — Pope 

Birthdays: Alexander Pope, a famous English poet, 
born in London, England, May 22, 1688 ; died at Twicken- 
ham, England, May 30, 1744. 

Richard Wagner, a famous German writer of music and 
poetry, born in Leipsic, Germany, May 22, 1813; died at 
Venice, Italy, February 13, 1883. 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a British novelist, born in 
Edinburgh, Scotland, May 22, 1859; lives at Hindhead, 
Surrey, England. 

23 DOING GOOD 

He liveth long who liveth well; 

All else is life but flung away; 
He liveth longest who can tell 

Of true things truly done each day. 

Sow love, and taste its fruitage pure; 

Sow peace, and reap its harvest bright; 
Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, 

And find a harvest home of light. 

H. Bonar 

24 CLEANLINESS 

Cleanliness may be defined to be the emblem of purity 
of mind. — Addison 

NEIGHBOR MINE 

There are barrels in the hallways, 

Neighbor mine, 
Pray be mindful of them always, 

Neighbor mine. 
If you're not devoid of feeling, 
Quickly to those barrels stealing, 
Throw in each banana peeling, 

Neighbor mine. 



212 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Look ! where 'er you drop a paper, 

Neighbor mine, 
In the wind it cuts a caper, 

Neighbor mine. 
Down the street it madly courses, 
And should fill you with remorses, 
When you see it scare the horses, 

Neighbor mine. 

Paper cans were made for papers, 

Neighbor mine, 
Let's not have the fact escape us, 

Neighbor mine. 
And if you will lend a hand, 
Soon our city dear shall stand 
As the cleanest in the land, 

Neighbor mine. 

Read: Bible, Psalm 24 : 4. 

Birthday : Sir Arthur W. Pinero, an English dramatist, 
born in London, England, May 24, 1855 ; lives in London. 

25 LIFE IS SHORT 

Life is too short to waste in critic peep or cynic bark, 

Quarrel or reprimand; 'twill soon be dark; 

Up! mind thine own aim, and God speed the mark. 

— Emerson 

Read: " Forbearance, ' ' "Each and All," "The Moun- 
tain and the Squirrel," "Friendship" and "Days," by 
Emerson. 

Birthdays: Ralph Waldo Emerson, a noted American 
writer, born in Boston, Mass., May 25, 1803; died at Con- 
cord, Mass., April 27, 1882. 

Edward G. E. Bulwer-Lytton, a famous English writer, 
born in London, England, May 25, 1803 ; died at Torquay, 
Devonshire, England, January 18, 1873. 



MAY 213 

26 BEAUTY 

I know blue modest violets, 

Gleaming with dew at morn — 

I know the place you came from, 

And the way that you were born! 

When God cuts holes in heaven, 

The holes the stars look through, 

He lets the scraps fall down to earth, 

The little scraps are you. 

— Phoebe Cary 

27 HONOB 

From our ancestors come our names, but from our 
honesty our honor. 

OUR PRESIDENTS IN RHYME 

BY JEANNIE PENDLETON EWING 

With "Washington 's name did the President 's start — 

' ' First in war, first in peace and each countryman 's heart. ' ' 

Then Adams, and then Thomas Jefferson, who 

Wrote the great Declaration for me and for you. 

Two Jameses — James Madison, and then James Monroe, 

And John Quincy Adams came next, you should know. 

Next Jackson, Van Buren; when Harrison died 

Vice-President Tyler succeeded with pride. 

Polk, Taylor, and Fillmore, in turn, and then Pierce, 

With Buchanan and Lincoln as war-times loomed fierce. 

Johnson, Grant, Hayes and Garfield; when Garfield was 

killed, 
His term by Vice-President Arthur was filled. 
Cleveland, Harrison ; Cleveland again for a term, 
Then William McKinley, a good man and firm. 
Next, Roosevelt, hunter and President great, 
Good soldier in battle, and good, too, in State. 
And then Mr. Taft, till the March day and hour 
When President Wilson succeeds him in power. 

— Popular Educator 



214 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Birthdays: Nathanael Greene, a noted American gen- 
eral, born at Potowhommet, R. L, May 27, 1742 ; died near 
Savannah, Georgia, June 19, 1786. 

Julia Ward Howe, an American poet, born in New York, 
N. Y., May 27, 1819 ; died in Portsmouth, R. I., Oct. 17, 
1910. 

John Kendrick Bangs, an American author and editor, 
born at Yonkers, N. Y., May 27, 1862; lives at Yonkers. 

28 MEMORY 

Let Fate do her worst; there are relics of joy, 
Bright dreams of the past, which she cannot destroy. 
They come in the night-time of sorrow and care, 
And bring back the features that joy used to wear. 
Long, long be my heart with such memories filled, 
Like a vase in which roses have once been distilled; 
You may break, you may shatter the vase if you will 
But the scent of the roses will hang round it still. 

— Moore 
Read : Selections from Moore 's poems. 
Sing : ' ' The Last Rose of Summer, ' ' ' ' The Minstrel Boy ' ' 
and ' ' The Harp that Once thro ' Tara 's Halls, ' ' from Songs 
Every One Should Know. 

Birthdays : Thomas Moore, a famous Irish poet, born in 
Dublin, Ireland, May 28, 1779; died at Bromham, Febru- 
ary 25, 1852. 

Louis J. R. Agassiz, a noted teacher of natural history, 
born in Motiers, Switzerland, May 28, 1807 ; died in Cam- 
bridge, Mass., December 14, 1873. 

29 PATRIOTISM 

I know not what course others may take, but as 
for me, give me liberty or give me death! 

— Patrick Henry 

PATRICK HENRY 

When Patrick Henry grew to be a man he went into 
business, but failed twice; he then became a lawyer, but 



MAY 215 

for three years got very little practice, when by some lucky 
chance he was chosen as lawyer in a case called the "Par- 
sons' Cause" because it was a quarrel between the parsons 
and the planters. To the surprise of everybody, Henry 
made a wonderful speech, and though he lost his case, 
from that time he was famous. He soon became the leader 
of the people's party, and when a member of the legisla- 
ture (1765), he took a strong stand against the Stamp Act; 
and in his speech against it used these celebrated words: 
"Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I. his Cromwell, and 
George III." (here people cried out 'Treason!') "may 
profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most 
of it." In 1774 he was the first speaker of the General 
Congress which met in Philadelphia. The next year he 
made his famous speech in Virginia in favor of putting 
the colony in a state of defense, in which he concluded: 
"I know not what course others may take, but as for me, 
give me liberty or give me death!" Patrick Henry was 
twice Governor of Virginia, and refused many high offices. 

Birthday: Patrick Henry, a famous American orator 
and statesman, born in Hanover County, Va., May 29, 1736 ; 
died at Red Hill, Va., June 16, 1799. 

30 MEMORIAL DAY 

For the dead, a tribute; 

For the living, a memory; 

For posterity, an emblem of loyalty to the 

flag of their country. 
— Inscription on Soldiers 9 Monument, Pittsfield, Mass. 

MEMORIAL DAY 

With slow and reverent tread 
I bring the roses red, 
To deck the soldier's bed, 
Emblem of blood they shed 
For this our native land. 



216 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

And I, white daisies bring, 
A simple offering; 
Emblem of holy peace, 
Oh, may its reign ne'er cease 
In this our happy land. 

I bring the violets blue, 

They say, "Be true, be true, 

True to the friends that love you, 

True to the God above you 

And to thy native land. ' ' 

Read: Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address," "The Blue and 
the Gray," by Francis M. Finch; "Cover Them Over," by 
Will Carleton. 

Sing: "America," "The Star-Spangled Banner," 
* ■ Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean, " " Battle Hymn of the 
Republic," "We're Tenting To-night"; also "Memorial 
Day" and "The Blue and the Gray Together," from Songs 
in Season. 

Birthday: Alfred Austin, an English poet and critic, 
born at Headingly, near Leeds, England, May 30, 1835. 
He succeeded Tennyson as Poet Laureate, in 1896. 



31 MEMOEIAL DAY 

[Continued] 
Furl the banner, softly, slowly, 
Treat it gently, it is holy — 
For it droops above the dead. 



Memorize extracts from Daniel Webster's "Bunker Hill 
Oration. ' ' 

Birthday : Walt Whitman, an American poet, born at 
West Hills, Long Island, N. Y., May 31, 1819; died in 
Camden, N. J., March 26, 1892. 



JUNE 



1 GEEATNESS 

Lives of great men all remind us, 
We can make our lives sublime, 

And departing, leave behind us 
Footprints in the sands of time. 

Footprints, that perhaps another, 
Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 

A forlorn and shipwreck'd brother, 
Seeing, shall take heart again. 

—Ibid 



2 FORGIVENESS 

If those who've wronged us own their faults and kindly pity pray, 
When shall we listen and forgive? To-day, my love, to-day. 
But if stern justice urge rebuke, and warmth from memory borrow, 
When shall we chide, if chide we must? To-morrow, love, to-morrow. 



A NOBLE EXAMPLE 

Joseph Bradford was for many years the traveling com- 
panion of the Rev. John Wesley, and considered no assist- 
ance to him too servile, but was subject to changes of 
temper. Wesley directed him to carry a package of letters 
to the post; Bradford wished to hear his sermon first; 
Wesley was urgent and insisted; Bradford refused. 
"Then," said Wesley, "you and I must part." "Very 
good, sir," replied Bradford. 

They slept over it. On rising the next morning Wesley 
accosted his old friend and asked if he had considered what 
he had said, that "they must part." "Yes, sir," replied 
Bradford. "And must we part?" inquired Wesley. 



218 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

" Please yourself, sir," was the reply. "Will you ask my 
pardon?'' rejoined Wesley. "No, sir." "You won't?" 
"No, sir." "Then I will ask yours!" replied the great 
man. Bradford melted under the example, and wept like 
a child. 

Read: "A Hero from Valley Forge," from An Amer- 
ican Book of Golden Deeds; Bible, Matt. 5 : 7-9. 

Sing: "Rock of Ages," from Uncle Sam's School Songs. 

Birthdays: John Randolph, of Roanoke, an American 
orator, born in Chesterfield County, Va., June 2, 1773 ; died 
in Philadelphia, Pa., June 24, 1833. 

John Godfrey Saxe, an American writer, born in High- 
gate, Vt, June 2, 1816 ; died at Albany, N. Y., March 31, 
1887. 

3 GOODNESS 

I wish that friends were always true, 

And motives always pure; 
I wish the good were not so few; 

I wish the bad were fewer. 

— J. G. Saxe 

Birthday: Jefferson Davis, an American statesman and 
president of the Confederate States during the Civil War, 
born in Christian County, Kentucky, June 3, 1808; died 
in New Orleans, La., December 6, 1889. 



4 KINDNESS 

Little deeds of kindness, little words of love, 

Make our earth an Eden like the heaven above. 

— Frances 8. Osgood 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND HIS MOTHER 

Abraham Lincoln was devotedly attached to his step- 
mother. When he became a man he often spoke of her as 
his "saintly mother/ ' his " angel of a mother.' ' 



JUNE 219 

She, herself, late in life, could not speak of him without 
tears, so great was her affection for him. 

"Abe," she said, "was kind, and good, and true. He 
never gave me a cross word, and never refused to do any- 
thing I asked him. He was dutiful and obedient to me 
always, and I think he loved me truly.' ' 

5 LOVE 

There is beauty in the sunlight, 
And the soft blue heaven above; 
Oh, the world is full of beauty, 
When the heart is full of love. 
— W. 8. Smith 

6 PATRIOTISM 

I only regret that I have but one life to give for 
my country. — Nathan Hale 

CAPTAIN NATHAN HALE 

After Washington's famous retreat from Long Island 
during the Revolutionary War, he wished to learn some- 
thing about the plans of the English general, Howe. When 
volunteers were called for to attempt the hazardous under- 
taking of crossing the enemy's lines for information, brave 
Capt. Nathan Hale cheerfully offered to go, and Washing- 
ton intrusted him with the important duty. His mission 
was completed and just as he was returning a Tory rela- 
tive discovered the identity of Capt. Hale, causing his 
arrest as a spy. The next morning, after being treated 
cruelly by the British and refused the use of his Bible, 
he was hung as a spy. Letters that he had written to his 
sisters and mother were destroyed by his unsympathetic 
captors. He died like a brave man, saying: "I regret 
that I have but one life to give for my country." 

Read : ' ' Nathan Hale, ' ' by Francis Miles Finch. 
Birthdays: Nathan Hale, an American soldier and 



220 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

patriot, born in Coventry, Conn., June 6, 1755 ; hanged as 
a spy in New York City, September 22, 1776. 

John Trumbull, an American painter, born in Lebanon, 
Conn., June 6, 1756; died in New York City, November 
10, 1843. 

7 TRUE DIGNITY 

True dignity abides with him alone 

Who, in the patient hour of silent thought, 

Can still respect and still revere himself. 

— Wordsworth 

ASSOCIATION 

There are localities in Switzerland where the canary is 
caged with the nightingale so that it may catch the sweet- 
ness and breathe into its notes that harmonious melody 
that delights all tourists in Europe. It is a demonstration 
of association. 

So men may make their lives strong, pure, sweet and 
holy in thought, word, and deed by unbroken association 
with those who live on a higher plane. 

— Popular Educator 

Birthday: Richard D. Blackmore, an English novelist, 
born at Longworth, Berkshire, England, June 7, 1825; 
died January 21, 1900. Author of Lorna Boone, etc. 

8 DUTY 

The boys and girls who do their best, 

Their best will better grow; 
But those who slight their daily task, 

They let the better go. 

Birthdays: Charles Keade, a famous English novelist, 
born at Ipsden House, Oxfordshire, England, June 8, 1814 ; 
died in London, April 11, 1884. Author of The Cloister 
and the Hearth. 

Sir John Everett Millais, an English painter, born in 



JUNE 221 

Southampton, England, June 8, 1829; died in London, 
England, August 31, 1896. 



9 PERSEVERANCE 

In the lexicon of youth, which fate reserves for a 
bright manhood, there is no such word as fail. 

— Bulwer-Lytton 



"PERSEVERE" 

George Stephenson, when addressing young men, was 
accustomed to sum up his best advice to them in the words : 
"Do as I have done — persevere." He was the son of a 
poor colliery laborer, and when fourteen years old became 
an assistant fireman in the colliery. He had not learned 
to read until he was eighteen. But when he was placed in 
charge of an engine he studied it so carefully that he could 
take it to pieces and put it together again. The engines of 
those days were stationary, and locomotives were unknown. 
People had often said what a good thing it would be if some- 
body only would invent an engine to draw wagons ; but the 
wise shook their heads and said that was impossible. 
Stephenson soon showed them it was quite possible to 
make an engine that would go, but he spent fifteen hard 
years working at the improvement of his locomotive before 
achieving his decisive victory at Rainhill. This is only 
one of many striking illustrations showing how by patient 
trying success has been won in every branch of science, art, 
and industry. 

Sing: "Home, Sweet Home." 

Birthdays : George Stephenson, a noted English railway 
engineer, the inventor of the locomotive, born at Wylam, 
Northumberland, England, June 9, 1781 ; died at his estate 
of Tapton Park, England, August 12, 1848. 

John Howard Payne, an American writer and actor, born 



222 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

in New York, June 9, 1792 ; died in Tunis, April 10, 1852. 
Author of the song, ''Home, Sweet Home." 

Francis Miles Finch, an American lawyer, and poet, born 
at Ithica, N. Y., June 9, 1827; died in Ithica, July 31, 
1907. Author of poems, ." Nathan Hale" and "The Blue 
and the Gray." 

10 OBEDIENCE 

He who has learned to obey, will know how to 
command. — Solon 

Birthdays: Peter I, called Peter the Great, emperor of 
Russia, fifth of the house of Romanoff, born near Moscow, 
Russia, June 10, 1672 ; died in St. Petersburg, February 8, 
1725. 

Karl Hagenbeck, a German animal trainer and menagerie 
owner, born in Hamburg, Germany, June 10, 1845. 

11 NOBILITY 

Beautiful faces are those that wear 
The light of a pleasant spirit there; 
It matters little if dark or fair. 

Beautiful hands are those that do 
Deeds that are noble, good, and true; 
Busy with them the long day through. 

Beautiful feet are those that go 
Swiftly to lighten another's woe, 
Through the summer's heat or winter's snow. 

Beautiful children, if, rich or poor, 
They walk the pathways sweet and pure 
That lead to the mansion strong and sure. 

Birthdays: Joseph "Warren, a noted American patriot, 
born in Roxbury, Mass., June 11, 1741. Killed in the battle 
of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. 

Mrs. Humphrey Ward, an English novelist, born in 
Hobart, Tasmania, June 11, 1851. (Her maiden name was 



JUNE 223 

Mary Augusta Arnold, she being a granddaughter of Dr. 
Thomas Arnold of Rugby, and a niece of Matthew Arnold.) 
Richard Strauss, a German composer, born in Munich, 
Germany, June 11, 1864; lives in Berlin, Germany. 



12 HONESTY 

Do what conscience says is right; 
Do what reason says is best; 
Do with all your mind and might; 
Do your duty and be blest. 

Birthday: Charles Kingsley, a famous English clergy- 
man and writer, born in Holne, Devonshire, England, June 
12, 1819 ; died at Eversley, England, January 23, 1875. 



13 RESPECT FOR THE AGED 

Be kind and be gentle 
To those who are old, 
For dearer is kindness, 
And better, than gold. 

SPARTAN RESPECT FOR THE AGED 

There was a great play at the principal theater in Athens 
one night. The seats set apart for strangers were filled with 
Spartan boys; and other seats, not far distant, were filled 
with Athenian youth. The theater was crowded, when an 
old man, infirm, and leaning on a staff, entered. There was 
no seat for him. The Athenian youth called to the old 
man to come to them, and with great difficulty he picked his 
way to their benches; but not a boy rose and offered him a 
seat. Seeing this, the Spartan boys beckoned to the old 
man to come to them, and, as he approached their benches, 
every Spartan boy rose, and, with uncovered head, stood 
until the old man was seated, and then all quietly resumed 
their seats. Seeing this, the Athenians broke out in loud 
applause. The old man rose, and, in a voice that filled the 



224 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

theater, said, "The Athenians know what is right: the 
Spartans do it." — White's School Management 

Birthday: Winfield Scott, an American general, born 
at Petersburg, Va., June 13, 1786 ; died at West Point, N. 
Y., May 29, 1866. 

14 FLAG DAY 

One flag, one land, 

One heart, one" hand, 

One nation evermore. 

— Holmes 

THE SCHOOL-HOUSE STANDS BY THE FLAG 

BY HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH 

Ye who love the Eepublic, remember the claim 
Ye owe to her fortunes, ye owe to her name, 
To her years of prosperity past and in store, 
A hundred behind you, a thousand before. 

'Tis the school-house that stands by the flag, 

Let the nation stand by the school ; 
'Tis the school-bell that rings for our Liberty old, 
'Tis the school-boy whose ballot shall rule. 

The blue arch above us is Liberty's dome, 
The green fields beneath us, Equality's home. 
But the schoolroom to-day is Humanity's friend, — 
Let the people the flag and the school-house defend. 
'Tis the school-house that stands by the flag, 

Let the nation stand by the school ; 
'Tis the school-bell that rings for our Liberty old, 
'Tis the school-boy whose ballot shall rule. 

Read: "The Flag Goes By," by Henry H. Bennett; 
"An American in Europe," by Henry van Dyke; Whit- 
tier 's ' ' Barbara Frietchie " ; " The Heroine of Fort Henry, ' ' 



JUNE 225 

from Baldwin's American Book of Golden Deeds; "The 
Stars and Stripes/' from Our Holidays: Retold from St. 
Nicholas; "Betsy Ross; Our Flag," from Wilson's History 
Reader. 

Sing : "The First Flag, ' ' " The Salute, " and " The Red, 
White, and Blue," from Songs in Season; "Flag of the 
Free," "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean," and "Flag of 
the Stars I Love, ' ' from American School Songs; c ' Hurrah 
for the Flag!" from Howliston's Child's Song Book. 

15 FLAG DAY 

[Continued] 

Red, White and Blue, wave on! 
Never may sire or son 

Thy glory mar. 
Sacred to liberty, 
Honored on land and sea, 
Unsoiled forever be, 

Each stripe and star. 

WHAT IS A FLAG WORTH? 

"Here's a , but I won't offer that old rag for sale. 

Too ragged ; clerk, take it away !" 

"I'll give five cents for it," shouted a ragman that 
chanced to be present. "And I'll give ten dollars for it," 
thundered a man near the door, stepping forward, the 
money in his hand. 

The auctioneer looked dumbfounded. "It's an Amer- 
ican flag," said the man, holding it up before the people. 
* ' Is there a man here that says the American Flag is not 
worth ten dollars ? ' ' 

Learn : "A Salute to the Flag, ' ' by Charles Sumner : 
"White for purity, red for valor, blue for justice, the 

flag of our country, to be cherished by all our hearts, to 

be upheld by all our hands. ' ' 

Birthday: Harriet Elizabeth Beecher Stowe, a noted 



226 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

American writer, born at Litchfield, Conn., June 15, 1812 ; 
died at Hartford, Conn., July 1, 1896. 



16 FLAG SALUTE 

[Adopted by the National Societies G. A. R. and W. C. R.] 

We give our heads and our hearts to God and our 
country. One country, one language, one flag. 

First Signal: The pupils having been assembled and 
being seated, and the flag borne by the standard bearer 
being in front of the school, at the signal (either by a chord 
struck on the piano or, in the absence of a piano, from a 
bell) each scholar seizes the seat preparatory to rising. 

Second Signal: The whole school rises quickly, as one 
person, erect and alert. 

Third Signal: The right arm is extended, pointing 
directly at the flag; as the flag bearer should be on the 
platform where all can see the colors, the extended arm will 
be slightly raised above a horizontal line. 

Fourth Signal: The forearm is bent so as to touch the 
forehead lightly with the tip of the fingers of the right 
hand. The motion should be quick, but graceful, the elbow 
being kept down and not allowed to " stick out" to the 
right. As the fingers touch the forehead, each pupil will 
exclaim in a clear voice, "We give our heads" (emphasiz- 
ing the word "heads"). 

Fifth Signal: The right hand is carried quickly to the 
left side and placed flat over the heart, with the words, * ' and 
our hearts!" (after the movement has been made). 

Sixth Signal: The right hand is allowed to fall quickly, 
but easily, to the right side; as soon as the motion is ac- 
complished, all will say, "to God and our country!" 

Seventh Signal: Each scholar still standing erect, but 
without moving, will exclaim, "One country!" (emphasis 
on "country"). 



JUNE 227 

Eighth Signal: The scholars, still standing motionless, 
will exclaim, ' ' One language ! ' ' (emphasis on ' ' language ' ') . 

Ninth Signal: The right arm is suddenly extended to 
its full length, the hand pointing to the flag, the body in- 
clining slightly forward, supported by the right foot slightly 
advanced. The attitude should be one of intense earnest- 
ness. The pupil reaches, as it were, toward the flag, at the 
same time exclaiming with great force, "One flag!" 

Tenth Signal: The right arm is dropped to the side and 
the position of attention recovered. 

Eleventh Signal: Each scholar seizes the seat prepara- 
tory to turning it down. 

Twelfth Signal: The school is seated. 

Flag Bearer: The color bearer grasps the staff at the 
lower end with his right hand and a foot or more (accord- 
ing to the length of the staff) above the end of the staff 
with his left hand. The staff is held directly in front of 
the middle of the body, slightly inclined forward from the 
perpendicular. At the fourth signal, the flag will be dipped, 
returning the salute ; this is done by lowering the left hand 
until the staff is nearly horizontal, keeping it in that posi- 
tion until the tenth signal, when it will be restored to its 
first, or nearly vertical, position. 

Birthday: Wesley Merritt, an American soldier, born 
in New York City, June 16, 1836 ; died at Natural Bridge, 
Va., December 3, 1910. 



17 HELPFULNESS 

A sense of an earnest will 

To help the lowly living, 
And a terrible heart thrill, 

If you have no power of giving; 
An aim to aid the weak, 

A friendly hand to the friendless, 
Kind words so short to speak, 

But whose echo is endless; 



228 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

The world is wide, these things are small, 
They may be nothing, but they are all. 

— M ilnes 

Birthdays: John Wesley, a famous English clergyman, 
founder of the Methodists, born at Epworth, Lincolnshire, 
England, June 17, 1703 ; died in London, March 2, 1791. 

Charles Francois Gounod, a noted French writer of 
music, born in Paris, France, June 17, 1818 ; died in Paris, 
October 18, 1893. Wrote the opera Faust. 

Special Day : Anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill 
(June 17, 1775). 

18 BOOKS 

Thought is the seed of action. — Emerson 

THE PARADOX OF BOOKS 

BY HANNAH MORE 

I 'm strange contraditions ; I 'm new and I 'm old, 

I 'm often in tatters, and often decked with gold. 

Though I never could read, yet lettered I 'm found ; 

Though blind, I enlighten ; though loose, I am bound. 

I 'm always in black, and I 'm always in white ; 

I am grave and I 'm gay, I am heavy and light. 

In form too I differ, — I 'm thick and I 'm thin ; 

I 've no flesh and no bone, yet I 'm covered with skin ; 

I Ve more points than the compass, more stops than the flute ; 

I sing without voices, without speaking confute ; 

I 'm English, I 'm German, I 'm French, and I 'm Dutch ; 

Some love me too fondly, some slight me too much ; 

I often die soon, though I sometimes live ages, 

And no monarch alive has so many pages. 

Birthday: David D. Porter, an American naval com- 
mander, born in Philadelphia, Pa., June 18, 1813; died 
February 13, 1891. 



JUNE 229 

19 EXTRAVAGANCE 

Beware of little extravagances; a small leak will 
sink a big ship. — Benjamin Franklin 

FARRAGUT'S RESOLUTION 

When Admiral Farragut's son was ten years old the 
father said in his hearing that when he was old enough to 
make a contract and keep it, he had a bargain to offer him. 
The son rose up and asked the father what the contract 
was. The Admiral said, "The proposal I intend to make 
is this : If you will not smoke or chew tobacco, drink in- 
toxicating or strong wines, till you are twenty-one years 
of age, I will then give you one thousand dollars. ' ' "lam 
old enough to make that bargain now," said young Far- 
ragut. "I will accept the offer," The bargain was closed, 
and when young Farragut was twenty-one the cash was 
handed over to him. A smoking boy can save a thousand 
dollars in a few years in the same way, besides saving 
physical energy and moral power. — Popular Educator 

Birthday: Richard M. Milnes [Baron Houghton], an 
English statesman and poet, born in London, England, 
June 19, 1809 ; died at Vichy, France, Aug. 11 1885. 

20 PUNCTUALITY 

Time is always on the wing, 

You can never stop its flight, 
Then do at once your little task, 

Happier you will be at night. 

PUNCTUALITY 

When Washington's secretary excused himself for the 
lateness of his attendance and laid the blame upon his 
watch, his master quietly said, ' ' Then you must get another 
watch, or I another secretary. ' ' It will generally be found 
that the men who are thus habitually behind time are 



230 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

habitually behind success; and the world casts them aside 
to swell the ranks of the grumblers and the railers against 
fortune. 

21 GENTLENESS 

Every gentle word you say 
One dark spirit drives away; 

Every gentle deed you do 
One bright spirit brings to you. 
— Virginia B. Harrison 



22 ADVERSITY 

By adversity are wrought 
The greatest works of admiration, 
And all the fair examples of renown 
Out of distress and misery are grown. 



23 MANNERS 

To be polite is to do and say 

The kindest thing in the kindest way. 



A GENTLEMAN 

I knew him for a gentleman 

By signs that never fail : 
His coat was rough and rather worn, 

His cheeks were thin and pale, — 
A lad who had his way to make, 

With little time to play. 
I knew him for a gentleman 

By certain signs to-day. 

He met his mother on the street ; 

Off came his little cap. 
My door was shut ; lie waited there 

Until I heard his rap. 



JUNE 231 

He took the bundle from my hand ; 

And when I dropped my pen, 
He sprang to pick it up for me, 

This gentleman of ten. 

He does not push or crowd along; 

His voice is gently pitched; 
He does not fling his books about 

As if he were bewitched. 
He stands aside to let you pass; 

He always shuts the door ; 
He runs on errands willingly, 

To forge and mill and store. 

He thinks of you before himself ; 

He serves you if he can, 
For in whatever company, 

The manners make the man; 
At ten and forty 'tis the same, — 

The manner tells the tale, 
And I discern the gentleman 

By signs that never fail. 

24 IDLENESS 

If you are idle, you are on the road to ruin, and 
there are few stopping places upon it. — H. W. Beecher 

Birthday: Henry Ward Beecher, a noted American 
preacher, lecturer and writer, born in Litchfield, Conn., 
June 24, 1813; died in Brooklyn, N. Y., March 8, 1887. 
(Son of Dr. Lyman Beecher and a brother of Harriet 
Beecher Stowe.) 

25 DUTY 

Do whate'er you have to do 

With a true and earnest zeal; 
Bend your sinews to the task; 

"Put your shoulders to the wheel." 



232 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

THE DESERTED CHICKS 

BY WILLIAM NORMS BURR 

There were six coops out in the chicken yard, each with 
a clucking mother hen inside, caring for her brood of chicks 
in mother-hen fashion. 

Frank's father had given him the little Brown Leghorn 
family to care for. He was to give them their cornmeal at 
certain times every day and keep water in the pan, and 
once in a while let them out for a stroll over the little 
grass plot, where they could pick the green food that all 
chickens enjoy for a " relish.' ' 

One morning Frank's father came in with a very sober 
look on his face. 

"Frank," said he, "how would you like to have father 
and mother go off to Los Angeles or somewhere to live 
and leave you here to take care of yourself ? ' ' 

"Who'd get dinner, and — and — who'd drive the big 
grays?" asked Frank. 

"Oh, I don't know," replied his father. "You would 
have to get your own dinner, I suppose, and just take care 
of yourself somehow. ' ' 

"You — you're not going to do it, are you?" A lump 
had come into Frank's throat and it was not easy for him 
to talk. 

"Don't you think it might help you to remember to do 
all your little chores?" asked Frank's father. "Who for- 
got last night to see that the brown hen and her chicks 
were snug?" 

Frank hung his head and looked hard at the floor. 

"I was playing with Eddie Ferris and — I guess I for- 
got," he said; and the lump almost choked him. 

"And because Frank 'forgot,' the brown mother hen 
took the opportunity to go somewhere else to spend the 
night and left her chicks to take care of themselves; and 
the chicks are such tender little things that— well, they 



JUNE 233 

must have caught cold and some of them must have died. ' ' 

"Did any of them die?" asked Frank. 

"No," said his father, and there was a faint little twinkle 
in his eyes. "I happened to go through the chicken yard 
last night after dark and I discovered that the brown hen 
had deserted her brood, and what do you think I did for 
them?" 

"I guess you hunted up their mother and told her she 
ought to stay at home with her children," answered Frank. 

"No, it was too late then to be hunting up a runaway 
hen," smiled Frank's father, "so I got an old feather 
duster that is in pretty good condition yet, but has been 
used in the buggy shed and is not very clean, and I un- 
screwed the handle and gave those poor little deserted 
chicks that duster as a substitute for their mother. And 
they got through the night very comfortably, cuddled under 
the feathers of that duster. But they might have had 
their mother, who is their natural protector, if Frank had 
not forgotten to see if they were all right, at least by sun- 
down. ' ' 

"I don't want you and mother to go off to Los Angeles 
and leave me here," whispered Frank, and the lump came 
into his throat again. ' ' There wouldn 't be any one around 
to 'feather-duster' me." 

"All right, my boy," said his father, heartily. "You'll 
not forget your chicks again, will you?" 

"I'll try hard not to," promised Frank. 

— Sunday School Times 

26 NATURE 

Open the door, let in the air; 

The winds are sweet and the flowers are fair. 

GREEN THINGS GROWING 

BY DINAH MULOCK CRAIK 

O the green things growing, the green things growing, 
The faint sweet smell of the green things growing ! 



234 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

I should like to live, whether I smile or grieve, 

Just to watch the happy life of my green things growing. 

the fluttering and the pattering of those green things 

growing ! 
How they talk each to each, when none of us are knowing ; 
In the wonderful light of the weird moonlight 
Or the dim, dreamy dawn when the cocks are crowing. 

1 love, I love them so — my green things growing ! 
And I think that they love me, without false showing ; 
For by many a tender touch, they comfort me so much, 
With the soft mute comfort of green things growing. 



27 FORBEARANCE 

Lift up your burden; it is God's gift, therefore bear 
it nobly. — Helen Keller 



A JUNE MORNING LESSON 

BY JULIA M. DANA 

Twice one are two 
Prairie roses, brushing through 
My window, all cool with dew. 
Twice one are two. 

Twice two are four 
Bees a humming round the door- 
Calling others by the score. 
Twice two are four. 

Twice three are six 
Pansy beds their colors mix; 
See the mother hen and chicks — 
Twice three are six. 



JUNE 235 

Twice four are eight; 
Gorgeous butterflies elate, 
Dancing, poising, delicate, 
Twice four are eight. 

Twice five are ten 
Sweetest strains from yonder glen, 
Echoed o 'er and o 'er again, 
Twice five are ten. 

Twice six are twelve 
Merry maidens of the year — 
Some in snowy gowns appear, 
Some in gold and silver sheer, 
Yet the fairest is, I ween, 
Dainty June in pink and green. 

Read: Helen Keller's Story of My Life. 

Sing: "Summer Time," from Merry Melodies; "The 
Summer Time/' from Kellogg 's Best Primary Songs. 

Birthday: Helen A. Keller, an American author, born 
at Tuscumbia, Ala., June 27, 1880; lives in Wrentham, 
Mass. Though deaf, dumb and blind from illness in in- 
fancy, she was enabled to study through the efforts of her 
teacher, Miss Anne M. Sullivan, and was graduated at 
Radcliffe College, Cambridge, Mass., in 1904. 

28 HAPPINESS 

Learn something beautiful, see something beautiful, 
do something beautiful each day of your life. 
— Alice Freeman Palmer's "Three Rules of Happiness" 

Sing: "June," from Hanson's Gems of Song. 

Birthday: Jean Jacques Rousseau, a French author, 
born in Geneva, Switzerland, June 28, 1712 ; died in Paris, 
France, July 2, 1778. 



236 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

29 GRADUATION 

And what is so rare as a day in June? 

Then, if ever, come perfect days; 
Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune, 

And over it softly her warm ear lays. 

— Lowell 

GRADUATION'S PROMISE 

BY SALENA SHEETS MARTIN 

'And once again life opens wide the door 
Through which shall pass ambition, youth and hope, 
Into that harsher world, but little tried, 
Where eager faith its tasks would meet and cope, 
The tasks that stagger oft when youth seems far 
From that fond hope that fastened to the star. 

How fine a thing it is — this hope of youth, 
Which bears the faithful heart that gives it room 
Above all trivial things of time and place 
On pinions to a sure success — not doom ; 
That sees no failures in the coming years 
Whose eager feet press on — they know no fears. 

The June time brings these fruitful days of life, 
Repeating for each one the promise o'er, 
Of rich fulfillment — harvests in the years, 
The fields of time, in which our visions soar ; 
With roses to bloom and thorns but few, 
May every worthy dream of youth come true. 

And may no idle dreams usurp the mind, 
No selfish visions stretch adown the years, 
No loitering by waysides, seeming joy 
To end in grief and penitential tears ; 
But on life's journey all along the way 
Look Heavenward and for its guidance pray. 



JUNE 237 

Sing: "Glad Vacation/ ' from Hanson's Silvery Notes. 

Birthdays: Peter Paul Rubens, a famous Flemish 
painter, born at Siegen, Germany, June 29, 1577; died at 
Antwerp, Belgium, May 30, 1640. 

John Quincy Adams Ward, an American sculptor, born 
in Urbana, Ohio, June 29, 1830; died in New York City, 
May 1, 1910. 

Celia Thaxter, an American writer, born in Ports- 
mouth, N. H., June 29, 1836 ; died August 27, 1894. 

John Bach MacMaster, an American historian, born in 
Brooklyn, N. Y., June 29, 1852. 

30 VACATION 

"Vacation is the time for fun!" 
All girls and boys are saying 
When schools and books grow wearisome, 
And hearts are ripe for playing. 

— Mary D. Brine 

VACATION-TIME 

All the world is set to rhyme 
Now it is vacation-time, 
And a swelling flood of joy 
Brims the heart of every boy. 
No more rote and no more rule, 
No more staying after school 
When the dreamy brain forgets 
Tiresome tasks the master sets ; 
Nothing but to play and play 
Through an endless holiday. 

Morn or afternoon, may all 
Swing the bat and catch the ball ; 
Nimble-footed, race and run 
Through the meadows in the sun, 
Chasing winged scraps of light, 



238 MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

Butterflies in darting flight; 
Or where willows lean and look 
Down at others in the brook, 
Frolic loud the stream within, 
Every arm a splashing fin. 

Where the thorny thickets bar, 
There the sweetest berries are ; 
Where the shady banks make dim 
Pebbly pools, shy trout swim ; 
Where the boughs are mossiest, 
Builds the humming-bird a nest ; — 
There are haunts the rover seeks, 
Touch of tan upon his cheeks, 
And within his heart the joy 
Known to no one but a boy. 

All the world is set to rhyme 
Now it is vacation-time. 

— From "Book of Rhyme" 

Sing: "Vacation's Coming" and "Vacation Song," 
from School Song Knapsack. 



INDEX 



A cheerful temper, 165 

A glad New Tear, 104 

A great nation is made, 17 

A gush of bird song, 180 

A man of words, 143 

A sense of an earnest will, 227 

A soft answer, 176 

A thing is worth, 131 

A traveler through a dusty road, 123 

A very little seed, 161 

Abbey, Edwin Austin, 174 

Abbott, Lyman, 93 

Abide with Me, 98 

Abraham Lincoln, 139 

Abraham Lincoln and His Mother, 

218 
Abt, Franz, 95 
Accomplishment, 99 
Achievement, 158, 200 
Adams, John, 56 
Adams, John Quincy, 153 
Adams, Samuel, 27 
Adams, Sarah Fowler, 147 
Adams, William Taylor, 168 
Addison, Joseph, 165, 196, 202, 211 
Ade, George, 132 

Advice of Robby Burns' Father, 120 
Aeroplane, The, 184 
Aesop, 39, 85 
Agassiz, Louis J. R., 214 
Aim, 166 
Aim well! 166 
Alcott, Louisa May, 79 
Aldrich, Thomas Bailey, 67 
Alger, Horatio, 112, 113 
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 

113 
All Fools' Day, 173, 174 
All habits gather, 16 
All-Hallow-Even, 57 
All the world, 237 
Allingham, William, 57 
Allison, Joy, 88 

Always vote for a principle, 153 
Ambition, 64, 178 
America, 31, 47, 74, 111, 139, 153, 

216 
America's Debt to Lafayette, 14 
American in Europe, An, Van Dyke, 

224 
Amiability, 88 
Amy Stewart, 169 
Ancient Mariner, Coleridge, 142 
And once again, 236 
And we, to-day, 78 
And what is so rare, 236 



Andersen, Hans Christian, 174, 175 

Andre, Major John, 32 

Androclus and the Lion, 25 

Angel, Andersen, 210 

Angel of Peace, Holmes, 209 

Angelo, Michael, 156 

Anger, 165 

Ant and the Cricket, The, 56 

Antics in the Bird Room, 198 

Anxious Leaf, The, 15 

April! April! Are You Here, 174 

April Morning, An, 180 

Arbor Day, 186, 193 

Arbor Day in Alabama, 147 

Arbor Day in Arizona, 128 

Arbor Day in Arkansas, 91 

Arbor Day in California 157 

Arbor Day in Connecticut, 193 

Arbor Day in Florida, 106 

Arbor Day in Georgia,81 

Arbor Day in Illinois, 186 

Arbor Day in Indiana, 55 

Arbor Day in Kentucky, 176 

Arbor Day in Louisiana, 132 

Arbor Day in Maine, 197 

Arbor Day in Maryland, 176 

Arbor Day in Massachusetts, 193 

Arbor Day in Michigan, 193 

Arbor Day in Minnesota, 193 

Arbor Day in Mississippi, 88 

Arbor Day in Mibsouri, 176 

Arbor Day in Montana, 201 

Arbor Day in Nebraska, 189 

Arbor Day in New Jersey, 189 

Arbor Day in New Mexico, 161 

Arbor Day in New York, 197 

Arbor Day in North Dakota, 197 

Arbor Day in Ohio, 183 

Arbor Day in Oklahoma, 158 

Arbor Day in Rhode Island, 205 

Arbor Day in South Carolina, 75 

Arbor Day in Texas, 147 

Arbor Day in Utah, 183 

Arbor Day in Vermont, 193 

Arbor Day in West Virginia, 75 

Ariosto, Ludovico, 15 

Armond, Lizzie D., 167 

Arnold, Benedict, 104, 105 

Arnold, Matthew, 96 

Arthur, Chester A., 34 

Association, 220 

Audubon, John James, 197, 198 

Auld Lang Syne 33, 120 

Austin, Alfred, 216 

Away with Meloncholy, 49 

Ax Grinding, Franklin, 179 



240 



INDEX 



Bacon, Francis, 118, 119, 157 

Bad Company, 128 

Bailey, P. J., 208 

Balzac, Honore de, 207 

Bancroft, George, 32, 33 

Bangs, John Kendrick, 214 

Barbara Frietchie, Whittier, 107, 224 

Barefoot Boy, The, Whittier, 107 

Barrie, James Matthew, 202 

Bartholdi, Frederic A., 175 

Barton, Clara, 52, 97, 206 

Barye, Antoine Louis, 25 

Battle Hymn of the Republic, 216 

Battle of Bunker Hill, 228 

Battle of New Orleans, 108 

Battle Prayer, The, 190 

Be a Man! 199 

Be Careful What You Sow, 17 

Be just and fear not, 71 

Be kind and gentle, 122 

Be noble! and the nobleness, 113 

Be still, sad heart! 90 

Beauregard, Pierre G. T., 166 

Beautiful faces are those, 49 

Beautiful Things, 49 

Beauty, 212 

Beaver Story, The, 56 

Beck, M. W., 14 

Beecher, Henry Ward, 111, 113, 231 

Beecher, Dr. Lyman, 178 

Beethoven, Ludwig Von, 91, 92 

Bell, Alexander Graham, 152, 153 

Bell of Atri, The, 71 

Benefactor of Mankind, A, 208 

Benjamin Franklin, Higginson, 114 

Bennett, Henry H., 63 

Bernard of Tuileries, Marden, 129 

Bernhardt, Sarah, 49 

Bessemer, Sir Henry, 117 

Bessie's Garden, Whittier, 44 

Best Christmas Book, The, Sindelar, 

95 
Betsy Ross, 225 
Better than grandeur, 161 
Better to strive and climb, 178 
Beware of little extravagances, 229 
Bigelow, John, 77 
Billings, Josh, 31, 79 
Bird Day, 186, 187, 188 
Bird with a Broken Wing, The, 25 
Birds of a feather, 128 
Birds of Killingsworth, The, 198 
Bismark-Schonhausen, Prince Otto 

E. L., 174 
BjOrnson, Bjornstjerne, 87 
Blackmore, Richard, 220 
Blackstone, Sir William, 140 
Blaine, James G., 126 
Blashfield, Edwin H., 97 
Blucher at Waterloo, 115 
Blue and the Gray, The, Finch, 216, 

222 
Blue and the Gray Together, The, 

216 
Bluebird, The, 188 
Boat Song, 148 



Bob White, 188 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, 44, 199 

Bonar, Horatius, 51, 211 

Bonheur, Rosa, 165 

Book, The, Forman, 126 

Books, 154, 228 

Books are men, 154 

Books are yours, 178 

Boone, Daniel, 134 

Booth, Edwin Thomas, 68 

Booth, John Wilkes, 69 

Boughton, George H., 117 

Boy Who Became Famous, A, 121 

Boy Who Recommended Himself, 
The, 27 

Boy Who Said "I Must," Marden, 
22 

Boy Who Wanted to Learn, The, 185 

Boyhood of John Greenleaf Whit- 
tier, The, 92 

Boyhood of Washington, The, 146 

Boys flying kites, 48 

Bradford, William, 202 

Bradstreet, Anne, 20 

Brahms, Johannes, 200 

Breton, Jules A., 196 

Brewster, Sir David, 89 

Brine, Mary D., 237 

Brooks, Elbridge S., 183 

Brooks, Phillips, 89, 90 

Brown, Abbie Farwell, 154 

Brown, Isabel Yeomans, 125 

Brown, John, 202, 205 

Browne, Charles F., 190 

Brownies, The, 58 

Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 154, 
156 

Browning, Robert, 199 

Bryan, William J., 162 

Bryant, William Cullen, 60, 61, 150, 
186 

Bryce, James, 203 

Buchanan, James, 188 

Bugle Song, The, 35 

Builders, 55 

Bull, Ole Borneman, 129 

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward G. E., 212 

Bunker Hill Oration, Webster, 115, 
216 

Burbank, Luther, 156, 157 

Burbank Day, 156 

Burden and Labor, Longfellow, 10 

Burke, Edmund, 103 

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 76 

Burns, Robert, 12, 82, 120 

Burr, William N., 232 

Burroughs, John, 176 

Burton, R., 128 

But whatever you are, be true, 81 

Buttercups and Daisies, 210 

Butterworth, Hezekiah, 62, 95 

By adversity are wrought, 230 

Byron, George Gordon (Lord), 119 

Calhoun, John C, 162 
California's Orange Day, 164 



INDEX 



241 



Can you put the spider's web, 183 

Canova, Antonio, 59 

Captain Nathan Hale, 219 

Careful Observer, The, 72 

Carleton, Will, 48 

Carlyle, Thomas, S3, 131 

Carnegie, Andrew, 76, 77 

Carroll, Lewis, 113 

Carter, 11 

Caruso, Enrico, 164 

Carving a Name, Alger, 112 

Cawein, Madison, 177 

Cary, Alice, 59, 82, 161, 190 

Cary, Phoebe, 12, 13, 18, 141, 190, 

213 
Casabianca, 44 
Champlain, Samuel D., 97 
Character, 26, 111, 123, 159, 162, 190, 

210 
Character is what God, 123 
Character, like porcelain, 111 
Character of Washington, 146 
Charity, 14, 27 
Chaucer, Geoffrey, 51 
Cheerfulness, 90, 108, 200 
Chesterfield, Lord, 127 
Child's Garden of Verses, A, 68 
Children's Poet, The, 10 
Chinese New Year's in California, A, 

103 
Chopin, Frederic Francois, 151 
Christmas, 95, 96 
Christmas Carol, A, Dickens, 131 
Christmas Carol, A, Lowell, 96 
Christmas Chimes, Blashfleld, 97 
Christmas Everywhere, Brooks, 95 
Christmas Like It Used to Be, Wa- 
terman, 95 

Christmas Songs, 95 

Churchill, Winston, 66 

Civic Duty, 62 

Clacker, The, 188 

Clay, Henry, 181, 184 

Clean Hands, 157 

Cleanliness, 157, 211 

Cleanliness of body, 157 

Cleanliness may be defined, 211 

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne, 80 

Cleveland, Grover, 162 

Coffin, Nathan, 189 

Coleridge, Samuel, 48, 64, 142 

Colton, 72 

Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean, 
216, 225 

Columbus, Christopher, 40 

Columbus, Lowell, 40 

Columbus, Joaquin Miller, 40 

Columbus Day, 39 

Come, Come, Come, 126 

Come with Thy Lute, 37 

Company, 128 

Congreve, 120 

Conscience, 10 

Contentment, 17, 92 

Cook, Eliza, 24, 25 

Cook, James, 54 



Coolidge, Susan, 103 

Cooper, George, 128 

Cooper, J. Fenimore, 19, 20 

Cooper's Literary Life, 19 

Copeland, Fannie F., 156 

Copernicus, Nikolaus, 143 

Cornelia's Jewels, 17 

Corot, Jean Baptiste C, 146 

Correggio, Antonio Allegri, 154 

Cortes, Hernando, 82 

Cotton-Gin, The, 86 

Country Mouse and the Town 

Mouse, The, 17 
Courage, 19, 87, 130 
Courtesy, 129, 184 
Cover Them Over, Carleton, 216 
Cow His Capital, A, Marden, 181 
Cowper, William, 45, 7S 
Craik, Dinah Maria Mulock, 40, 233 
Crimean War, 205, 206 
Crow and the Pitcher, The, 5 4 
Crow Calculations, 188 
Cruel Boy Almost Sure to Make a 

Cruel Man, A, 104 
Cummins, Maria Susanna, 180 
Curie, Pierre, 199 
Custer, George A., 84 

Daisies in the Meadow, 210 

Daisy Nurses, 210 

Damon and Pythias, 32, 143 

Dana, Julia M., 234 

Dandelion, To a, Lowell, 210 

Dante, 206 

Dare to be true, 70 

Darling, Grace, 75, 76 

Darius Green and His Flying Ma- 
chine, 185 

Darwin, Charles R., 139 

David Copperfield, Dickens, 131 

Davis, Jefferson, 218 

Davis, Richard Harding, 185 

Davy, Sir Humphry, 92 

Dawn of Peace, The, 209 

Dawning Day, A, Carlyle, 131 

Day, Richards, 41 

Day, The (St. Valentine's), 140 

Day and Night, 185 

Day of Planting, The, 186 

Days, Emerson, 61, 212 

Dear Common Flower, 210 

Declaration of Independence, The, 
111 

Deeds, 143, 208 

Deerslayer, The, Cooper, 20 

Defoe, Daniel, 189 

Desert, The, Richards, 90, 201 

Deserted Chicks, The, Burr, 232 

Deserted Village, The, Goldsmith. 
189 

Destiny, 162 

Devotion, 142 

Devotion to Duty, 44 

Dewey, George, 98 

Diamond or a Coal, A, Ross«tti, 10* 

Dickens, Charles, 13», 131 



242 



INDEX 



Dickens in Camp, Bret Harte, 131 
Dickinson, Anna Elizabeth, 55 
Diff'ent Kind o' Bundles, Slosson, 

160 
Dinner of Tongues, A, 85 
Discontented Pendulum, The, 183 
Discontented Pine Tree, The, 17 
Discovery Day, 39 
Disraeli, Benjamin, 94 
Do not cry and weep, 41 
Do not look for wrong', 161 
Do something, 98 
Do what conscience says, 38 
Do whatever you have, 231 
Do you wish the world, 93 
Do Tour Best, 176 
Doctor Goldsmith, 60 
Doing Good, 211 
Donizetti, Gaetano, 26 
Don't Give Up, Cary, 64, 141, 190 
"Don't Give Up the Ship!" 31 
Don't slight a boy, 93 
Don't Talk When You've Nothing 

to Say, 46 
Douglas, Stephen A., 188 
Dove and the Woodpecker, The, 15 
Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan, 211 
Drum and the Vase of Sweet Herbs, 

The, 39 
Dryden, John, 195 
Duel, The, Field, 11 
Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 132 
Dupre, Jules, 177 
Diirer, Albert, 210 
Duty, 29, 44, 154, 199, 210, 220, 231 
Duty and Inclination, 19, 154 
Dvorak, Antonin, 15 

Each and All, Emerson, 212 

Easter, 166, 167 

Echo, The, 69 

Economy, 168 

Eddy, Mary Baker Glover, 83 

Edison, Thomas A., 133, 134 

Education, 116 

Eggleston, Edward, 88 

Eiffel, Alexander Gustave, 91 

Election Day, 62 

Elegy of a Country Churchyard, 
Gray, 98 

Eli Whitney and the Cotton-Gin, 86 

Eliot, George, 74 

Elves and the Shoemaker, The, 60 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 210, 212, 228 

Endurance is the crowning quality, 
39 

Ericcson, John, 158 

Errors, 196 

Errors, like straws, 196 

Ethan Allen, 110 

Ethan Allen and the Green Moun- 
tain Boys, 109 

Evans, Mary Ann, 74 

Evening Prayer, 185 

Every day is a fresh beginning, 103 

Every gentle word you say, 152 



Every joy that heart can hold, 140 
Every man must educate, 116 
Everything comes to him, 141 
Evil Speaking, 48 
Ewing, Jeannie P., 213 
Excelsior, Longfellow, 149 
Experience, 118, 168 
Extravagance, 229 

Fair-Mindedness, 161 

Fairy in the Mirror, 166 

Fairy Who Judged Her Neighbors, 

the, Ingelow, 85 
Faith, 182 

Faithful Little Hollander, The, 29 
Faithful to Trust, 104 
Faithfulness, 79 
Fame, 172 

Fame is what you have taken, 172 
Fantail Pigeon, The, 46 
Farmer and His Sons, The, 66 
Farragut's Resolution, 229 
Farrar, 117 

Festival of the Trees, The, 186 
Fidelity in Duty, 29 
Field, Cyrus W., 80 
Field, Eugene, 10, 11, 203 
Fillmore, Millard, 108 
Finch, Francis Miles, 222 
Findelkind, De la Ramee, 30 
Finley, Martha, 190 
First-day Thoughts, 167 
First Flag, The, 146, 225 
"First in war, first in peace," 123 
First Printer, The, Baldwin, 126 
First Thanksgiving, The, 78 
Fiske, John, 171, 172 
Fitch, William Clyde, 196 
Five Peas in a Pod, Andersen, 175 
Flag Day, 224, 225 
Flag Goes By, The, Bennett, 63, 224 
Flag of Our Union, Forever! 110, 

152 
Flag of the Free, 225 
Flag of the Stars I Love, 225 
Flag Salute, 234 
Flammarion, Camille, 149 
Flatterers and Slanderers, 81 
Flattery, 81, 179 

Flattery like a painted armor, 81 
Florence Nightingale, 205, 206 
Flow Gently, Sweet Afton, 53 
Flower Day, 157, 210 
Flowers are cousins, 15 6 
Flowers' Drink, The, 39 
Follow Me, Full of Glee, 84 
For a' That, Burns, 12, 120 
For praise too dearly loved, 66 
For the dead, 215 
For the Little Boy Who Will Not 

Say Please, 129 
Forbearance, 196, 234 
Forbearance, Emerson, 212 
Forest Hymn, A, Bryant, 186 
Forget-Me-Not, 210 
Forgiveness, 67, 117, 217 



INDEX 



243 



Forming of Habits, The, 16 
Foster, Stephen C, 112 
Fountain, The, 55, 83 
Franklin, Benjamin, 67, 114, 115, 

144, 179, 229 
Freedom, 174 
Fremont, John C, 118 
French, Daniel C, 187 
Freneau, Philip, 146 
Friendship, 32, 79 
Friendship, Emerson, 212 
Friends, 141 
Froebel, Friedrich, 187 
From a little spark, 206 
From our ancestors, 213 
Full many a gem, 98 
Fulton, Robert, 148 
Furl the banner, 216 

Galileo, 141 

Gall, Franz Joseph, 158 

Garden Farm, Richards, 210 

Garfield, James A., 72, 73, 131 

Garland, Hamlin, 20 

Garrick, David, 144 

Gatling, Richard J., 18 

Gay, 141 

General's Easter Box, The, 167 

Generous Forbearance, 196 

Gentleman, A, 230 

Gentleness, 230 

George Washington and His Hatchet, 

22 
Gettysburg Address, The, Lincoln, 

138, 216 
Gibson, Charles Dana, 19 
Gibson, "William Hamilton, 35 
Gilder, Richard Watson, 131 
Gilpin, 196 

Girl in the Brook, The, 18 
Glad Vacation, 237 
God be thanked, 51 
God sent his singers, 197 
God's Care, 182 
Goethe, Johann W. von, 165 
Goldsmith, Oliver, 66, 109, 189 
Gonard and the Pine Tree, 178 
Good Advice, 68 
Good and Bad Apples, 128 
Good Bishop, The, 149 
Good boys and girls, 39 
Good Deeds, 36, 88, 199 
Good Manners, 39 

Good manners cannot be put on, 192 
Good morning, sweet April, 174 
Good Name, A, 142 
Good Name, The Value of a, 101 
Goodness, 132, 206, 218 
Gounod, Charles Francois, 228 
Grace Darling, 75, 76 
Grace Darling, Wordsworth, 76 
Graduation, 236 

Graduation's Promise, Martin, 236 
Grant, Ulysses S., 22, 191, 192 
Graphophone, The, 190 
Grateful Foxes, The, 122 



Great captains, with their guns, 134 
Great Stone Face, The, Hawthorne, 

210 
Great works are performed, 21 
Greatness, 176, 206, 217 
Greeley, Horace, 28 
Green, John R., 89 
Green Things Growing, Craik, 233 
Greene, Nathanael, 214 
Growing, 178 

Habit, 16, 113 

Habits, 15, 16 

Haeckel, Ernst H, 142 

Hagenbeck, Karl, 222 

Hague Peace Conference, The, 208 

Hail! Columbia, 14, 152 

Hale, Edward Everett, 176 

Hale, Nathan, 219 

Hallowe'en, 57 

Hamilton, Alexander, 111 

Hancock, John, 111 

Hancock, Winfield Scott, 141 

Handsome is as handsome does, 189 

"Handsomest Man I Ever Saw, The," 

133 
Hang me to the yard-arm, 189 
Happiness, 37, 55, 68, 235 
Happy Arbor Day, 186 
Happy-Faced Boy, The, 171 
Happy Farmer, The, 108 
Happy hearts and happy faces, 68 
Harp that Once thro* Tara's Halls, 

Moore, 214 
Harraden, Beatrice, 119 
Harris, Joel Chandler, 87 
Harrison, Benjamin, 160 
Harrison, Mrs. Burton, 190 
Harrison, V. B., 152 
Harrison, William Henry, 132 
Hats off! Along the street, 63 
Have more than thou showest, 148 
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 210 
Hay, John, 37 
Haydn, Joseph, 172 
Hayes, Rutherford B., 34 
He Aimed High and Hit the Mark, 

Marden, 18 
"He Belongs to the Ages," 140 
He is not only idle, 105 
He liveth long, 211 
He prayeth well, 142 
He that cannot forgive others, 67 
He that cannot think, 77 
He who has learned to obey, 43 
He who serves his country, 73 
He who steals my purse, 142 
Health, 161 

Health Creed, A, Ryan, 35 
Health Day, 35 

Hearts, like doors, will ope, 24 
Heaven is not reached at a single 

bound, 44 
Help to Set the World Rejoicing, 60, 

161 
Helpfulness, 98, 176, 227 



244 



INDEX 



Hemans, Felicia D., 26, 78 

Henry, Patrick, 214, 215 

Henty, George Alfred, 87 

Herbert, George (Lord), 67, 70 

Here's to that Boy, 30 

Here's to the boy, 95 

Here's to the white carnation, 203 

Hero of Valley Forge, A, 68 

Heroine of Fort Henry, The, 224 

Heroism, 31, 75, 187, 189 

Heroism is simple, 31 

Herrick, 86 

Herschel, Sir William, 70 

Ho, all who labor, 201 

Holland, Josiah G., 40 

Holmes, Oliver "Wendell, 35, 71, 187, 

203, 209 
Home, Richards, 91 
Home and Parents, 88 
Home, Sweet Home, 51, 221 
Homer, Winslow, 148 
Honest Woodman, The, 22, 51 
Honesty, 51, 77, 117, 158 
Honor, 33, 74, 160, 189, 213 
Honor and Shame, 74 
Hooker, Joseph, 68 
Hoosier Schoolboy, The, 88 
Hoosier Schoolmaster, The, 88 
Hopkinson, Joseph, 111 
Horace, 59 

Hosmer, Harriet G., 38 
Houston, Sam, 151, 152 
How a President is Inaugurated, 153 
How Abraham Lincoln Taught 

Himself, 127 
How Baby Robin Was Saved, 64 
How doth the little busy bee, 56 
How happy is he born, 69 
How Happy is the Child, 44 
How many deeds, 183 
How Patty Gave Thanks, 78 
How shall I a habit break? 15 
How the Camel Got His Hump, 

Kipling, 101 
How the Date Was Set, 153 
How the Leaves Came Down, 

Coolidge, 26 
How the Robin Got Its Red Breast, 

198 
How the Telephone Was Invented, 

152 
How Uncle Sam Observes Christ- 
mas, 95 
Howe, Elias, 33 
Howe, Julia Ward, 214 
Howe'er it be, it seems to me, 35 
Howells, William Dean, 151 
Hughes, Thomas, 46 
Hugo, Victor, 149 
Humility, 45, 66, 71, 98 
Humphreys, 151 
Hundreds of Stars, 73 
Hurrah for the Flag, 225 
Huxley, Thomas H., 198 
Huygens, Christian, 183 
Hydrophobia, 99 



I dare do all, 30 

I heard the bells, 96 

I hold it truth, 34 

I knew him, 230 

I know blue modest violets, 213 

I know not what course, 214 

I know not where His islands, 158 

I live for those who love me, 50 

I look in the brook, 10 

"I love you, mother," 88 

I only regret, 219 

I resolve to keep my health, 94 

I shall pass this way, 196 

I thank Thee, Lord, 20 

I wish that friends, 218 

I Will Paint or Die, Marden, 22 

I will speak more kindly, 27 

I will try to be kind, 25 

I would rather be right, 181 

I wrote my name, 112 

Ibid, 129, 217 

Idle Little Boy, The, 144 

Idleness, 105, 230 

If little labor, 86 

If those who've wronged us, 41 

If we do not plant knowledge, 127 

If you are about to strive, 19 

If you're told to do a thing, 18 

If you've any task, 42 

If you've tried, 141 

"I'll try" is a soldier, 191 

I'm strange contradictions, 228 

Image and the Treasure, The, 

Scudder, 101 
Immortal Fountain, The, 207 
In all the affairs, 184 
In Life's Morning, 129 
In Memoriam, Tennyson, 102 
In the lexicon of youth, 109 
In the Springtime, 165 
Inauguration Day, 153, 154 
Incident in Scott's Life, An, 23 
Incident of the French Camp, An, 

199 
Independence, 111 
Industry, 56, 144, 169 
Industry and Application, 94 
Influence of a Great Name, The, 146 
Influence of Good Deeds and Words, 

Mackay, 123 
Inman, Henry, 46 
Innes, George, 196 
Irving, Sir Henry, 130 
Irving, Washington, 39, 176 
It is easy finding reasons, 74 
It is hard to fail, 54 
It is not always the coat, 160 
It is when our budding hopes, 130 
It's a curious house, 154 
It's easy enough to be pleasant, 89 

Jackson, A. E., 84 

Jackson, Andrew, 161 

Jackson, Helen Hunt, 18, 32, 44 
Jackson, Thomas J. (Stonewall), 
118 



INDEX 



245 



Jay, John, 89 

January, 103 

Jarvis, Anna, 202 

Jefferson, Joseph, 145 

Jefferson, Thomas, 174, 175 

Jenner, Edward, 208 

Jesus of Nazareth, 96 

Joan of Arc, 106, 107 

John Milton, the Blind Poet, 87 

Johnson, Andrew, 100 

Johnson, Samuel, 20, 21 

Johnston, Albert Sidney, 128 

Johnston, Joseph Eccleston, 128 

Joliet, Louis, 23 

Jolly Workers, The, 41 

Jordan, David Starr, 117 

Judge's Bench, The, 34 

June, 235 

June Morning Lesson, A, Dana, 234 

Just a little every day, 13 

Just a Little Mother, 203 

Justice, 41, 71 

Keats, John, 55 

Keep a smile on your lips, 108 

Keep to the Right, 207 

Keeping at It, 181 

Keeping Your Word, 115 

Keller, Helen A., 87, 234, 235 

Kepler, Johann, 99 

Key, Francis Scott, 110, 111 

Kind Words, 39, 158, 176, 177 

Kindness, 35, 122, 171, 183, 196, 

218 
Kindness to Animals, 25 
"Kindness Returned, 36 
King of the Golden River, Ruskin, 

131 
King Stork, The, 92 
King's Birthday, The, 182 
King's Garden, The, 24 
Kings of the Past and Present, 12 
Kingsley, Charles, 64, 223 
Kipling, Rudyard, 100, 101 
Knights and the Good Child, The, 

37 
Knowledge, 127, 178 
Knowledge is proud, 45 
Kosciuszko, Tadensz, 139 

Labor Day, 9, 10 

Labor is Worship, Osgood, 9 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 14, 176 

Lafayette, the Boy of Versailles, 14 

Laighton, Albert, 182 

Lamb, Charles and Mary, 142 

Landing of the Pilgrims, The, 

Hemans, 78, 116 
Landseer, Sir Edwin, 157 
Lang, Andrew, 172 
Larcom, Lucy, 183, 184, 186, 198 
Lark and Her Young Ones. The. 34 
La Salle, Robert Cavelier de, 74 
Last of the Mohicans, The, Cooper, 

20 
Last Rose of Summer, The, Moore, 

214 



Laugh, and the world laughs, 55 

Lawrence, James, 31 

Laying of the Telegraph-Cable, 

The, 79 
Learn a Little Every Day, 18 
Learn something beautiful, 235 
Lee, Henry, 123 
Lee, Richard Henry, 117 
Lee, Robert E., 116 
Legend Beautiful, The, Longfellow, 

149 
Lessing, Gotthold E., 119 
Lesson in Courage and Persever- 
ance, A, 39 
Lesson in Obedience, A, 43 
Lesson in Perseverance, A, 197 
Lesson of Mercy, A, Alice Cary, 190 
Let Fate do her worst, 214 
Let independence be our boast, 111 
Let Labor, then look up, 12 
Let little hands bring, 107 
Let's Higher Climb, 178 
Let thy mind's sweetness, 26 
Let us, then, be up and doing, 20 
Lexington, Holmes, 74 
Liberty Enlightening the World, 

176 
Library Day, 125 
Life is Real, Life is Earnest, 34, 

80, 149 
Life is Short, 212 
Life is too short, 212 
Life is What We Make It, 15 
Lift up your burden, 234 
Lincoln, Abraham, 25, 68, 74, 127, 

133, 139, 216, 218 
Lincoln Day Entertainments, Sin- 

delar, 139 
Lincoln's Conscientiousness, 38 
Lincoln's Kindness to Birds, 25 
Lincoln's Sentiment and Autograph, 

184 
Lind, Jenny, 35 
Liszt, Franz, 49 
Little acts of kindness, 171 
Little Bird with Eager Wing, 188 
Little Blue Jay, 188 
Little Boy Blue, Field, 11 
Little builders, build away, 55 
Little by little, 207 
Little deeds of kindness, 218 
Little drop of water, 84 
Little Drummer Boy, The, 44 
Little Girl with the Light, The, 207 
Little Girl's Ideal Party, A, Brown, 

125 
Little Ida's Flowers, Andersen, 210 
Little minds are tamed, 176 
Little moments make, 206 
Little Rooster, The, 26 
Little Scotch Granite, 71 
Little Things, 206 
Little Things, Brewer, 84 
Lodge, Henry Cabot, 206 
London. Jack, 111 
Long Weary Day, The, 206 



246 



INDEX 



Longfellow, Henry W., 22, 90, 96, 

103, 134, 149, 180, 197, 206 
Longfellow and the Children, 149 
Longfellow's Birthday, 149 
Longstreet, James, 108 
Look up and not down, 176 
Looks, Words and Deeds, 25 
Lord My Shepherd Is, The, 118, 143 
Lost, somewhere, 148 
Louisa Alcott Reader, 79 
Love, 219 

Love and Truth, 119 
Love Your Enemies, 117 
Loveliest of lovely things, 60 
Lowell, James Russell, 39, 40, 70, 

96, 113, 123, 134, 147, 210, 236 
Loyalty, 106, 109 
Loyalty to Our Country, 62 
Luther, Martin, 66 
Lytton, 109 

Mabie, Hamilton Wright, 95 

Macadam, John Loudon, 23 

Macaulay, Thomas B., 51 

MacDonald, George, 117 

Mackay, Charles, 12, 81, 123 

Mac Master, John Bach, 237 

Madison, James, 161 

Magnet's Choice, The, Howliston, 83 

Making the Best of It, 201 

Man with the Hoe, The, Markham, 

10 
Man without a Country, Hale, 176 
Mann, Horace, 123, 148, 198 
Manners, 93, 230 
Many strokes though with a little 

ax, 119 
March, 151 
March is merry, 164 
Marconi, Guglielmo, 190 
Marion, Francis, 150 
Marion the Swamp Fox, 150 
Markham, Edwin, 26, 188 
Marshall, John, 26 
Martin, Salena Sheets, 236 
Mather, Cotton, 139 
Matthews (James) Bradner, 145 
May, 195 
May-Day, 195 
May-Day in England, 195 
May-Day Song, 195 
May Queen, The, Tennyson, 195 
McClellan, George B., 83 
McCormick, Cyrus Hall, 141 
McKinley, William, 123 
Mead, Larkin Goldsmith, 105 
Meade, George Gordon, 101 
Memorial Day, 215, 216 
Memorial of Alice and Phoebe Cary, 

Clemmens, 13 
Memory, 214 
Men and Things, 90 
Men Who Have Risen, Mabie, 134 
Mercy, 205 
Meredith, George, 139 
Meredith, Owen, 51 



Merrily, Merrily Sing, 87 

Merrimack, The, 158 

Merritt, Wesley, 227 

Merry Children, The, 201 

Merry Springtime, 194 

Message of Peace, The, 209 

Michael Angelo, 156 

Miles Standish, 33 

Millais, Sir John Everett, 220 

Miller, Emily Huntington, 203 

Miller, Mrs. E. R., 43, 49, 168 

Mi41er, Joaquin, 66, 209 

Miller of the Dee, The, 90, 37 

Millet, Jean Francois, 33 

Mills, Clarke, 81 

Milnes, Richard M., 229 

Milton, John, 87, 208 

Minstrel Boy, The, Moore, 214 

Minute Man of Concord, 187 

Miraculous Pitcher, The, Haw- 
thorne, 210 

Monitor, The, 158 

Monroe, Harriet, 96 

Monroe, James, 193 

Monroe Doctrine, The, 192 

Montgomery, James, 61, 203 

Montgomery, Richard, 82 

Moody, Dwight Lyman, 129 

Moore, Thomas, 214 

More, Hannah, 228 

More are drowned in the bowl, 29 

More Precious Than Rubies, 177 

Morning Song, 26, 66 

Morris, George O., 3o 

Morris, Robert, 117 

Morris, William, 166 

Morse, Samuel F. B., 191 

Mortals that would follow me, 87 

Mother, 73 

Mother, Abraham Lincoln and His, 
218 

Mother Love, 203 

Mother's Day, 202, 203 

Mother's Love, 203 

Mother's Secret, A, Holmes, 203 

Mount Vernon Bells, 146 

Mountain and the Squirrel, The, 
Emerson, 212 

Mozart, Wolfgang A., 121, 122 

Mulock, Miss, 40 

Munkacsy, Mihaly, 38 

Murillo, Bartolme Esteban, 176 

Music, 120 

Music Everywhere, 90 

Music hath charms, 120 

Music in All Things, 47 

My Book is a House, Brown, 154 

My boy, I'd give the world, 83 

My captain does not answer, 139 

My Country, 176 

My Good-for-Nothing, Miller, 203 

My idea is this; ever onward, 149 

My Mother, 203 

My Old Kentucky Home, 113 

My son, observe the postage stamp! 
79 



INDEX 



247 



Napoleon Bonaparte, 44, 199 

Nathan Hale, 222 

Nature, 233 

"Nature's Helper," 156 

Naughty Little Gold Finger, 83 

Nearer Home, Phoebe Cary, 13 

Nearer, My God, to Thee, 206 

Neat Family, A, 167 

Neatness, 26, 167 

Neatness and its reverse, 167 

Neighbor Mine, 211 

Never you mind the crowd, 185 

Newman, John Henry, 145 

Newton, Sir Isaac, 97 

New Year's Day, 103 

New Year's Day Customs, 103 

New Year's Eve, 102 

New Year's Message, 104 

Next in importance to freedom, 72 

Nicholas Nickelby, Dickens, 131 

Niehaus, Charles H., 119 

Nightingale, Florence, 205, 206 

Nixie Bunny in Manners-Land, 

Sindelar, 93 
No flattery, boy! 179 
No fountain is so small, 210 
No one is useless, 84 
Nobility, 91, 222 
Nobility, Alice Cary, 113 
Noble Conduct, 64 
Noble Example, A, 217 
Nobleness, 113 

Nobody's Child, Phcebe Cary, 13 
Not enjoyment and not sorrow, 180 
Not what we give, 70 
Now, Phcebe Cary, 13 
Nutcrack Night, 57 

O, it's I that am, 168 

O make Thou us, 209 

O Mother-My-Love, Field, 203 

O Painter of the fruits, 193 

O suns and skies, 32 

O the green things, 233 

O Washington! thrice glorious 

name, 146 
Obedience, 18, 43, 222 
October's Bright Blue Weather, 

Jackson, 44 
October's Bright Weather, 32 
Odin's Search for Wisdom, 119 
Oft have I walked, 182 
Oh, let us live, 26 
Oh, many a shaft, 22 
Oh, Washington! thou hero, 145 
Oh, what a tangled web, 22 
Old Curiosity Shop, Dickens, 131 
Old Folks at Home, 113 
Old Maxims, Alice Cary, 190 
Old Oaken Bucket, The, 112 
Old School-Bell, The, 156 
Oliver Twist, Dickens, 131 
On the choice of friends, 141 
One day at a time, 44 
One flag, one land, 224 
One may live as a conqueror- 115 



One Road, The, 89 

Onward, Christian Soldiers, 113 

Open the door, 233 

Opening Song, 42 

Opportunity, 41, 114 

Optic, Oliver, 168 

Orange Day, 164 

Order, 211 

Order is Heaven's first law, 211 

Orne, Caroline F., 201 

Osgood, Mrs. F. S., 9, 21, 218 

Otway, 179 

Our band is few, but true, 150 

Our Greatest Patriot, 146 

Our Homestead, Phcebe Cary, 13 

Our Presidents in Rhyme, Ewing, 

213 
Over my shaded doorway, 92 
Over the river, 78 

Paderewski, Ignace Jan, 64 

Page, Thomas Nelson, 189 

Paine, Thomas, 145 

Palmer, Alice Freeman, 235 

Pansies, 210 

Paradox of Books, The, More, 228 

Parents, 88 

Parkman, Francis, 20 

Partridge, William O., 181 

Pasteur, Louis, 99 

Patience, 13, 26, 44, 74, 159 

Patrick Henry, 214, 215 

Patriotism, 14, 21, 73, 107, 110, 144, 

150, 214, 219 
Patti, Adeline, 144 
Paul Revere's Ride, Longfellow, 103 
Payne, John Howard, 221 
Peabody, Miss S. C, 185 
Peace Day, 208, 210 
Peace has her victories, 208 
Pearley, 100 
Peary, Robert E., 199 
Pegging Away Did It, 74 
Penn, William, 41, 42 
People's Song of Peace, Miller, 209 
Perfect Tribute, The, Andrews, 139 
Perrault, Charles, 111 
Perseverance, 12, 21, 54, 79, 86, 94, 

109, 129, 133, 141, 180, 197, 221 
"Persevere," 221 
Persistence, 119 
Peter the Great, 222 
Phillips, David Graham, 58 
Phillips, Wendell, 79 
Pickwick Papers, Dickens, 131 
Pied Piper, The, 199 
Pierce, Franklin, 75 
Pig and the Hen, The, Alice Cary, 

190 
Pilot, The, Cooper, 20 
Pinero, Sir Arthur W., 212 
Pippa Passes, 201 
Pitt, William, 70 
Plant a Tree, Lucy Larcom, 186 
Planting of the Apple-Tree, Bryant, 

186 



248 



INDEX 



Planting Trees for Others, 187 

Please, Aspinwall, 39 

Pleasure of Doing Good, The, 194 

Pleasures, 120, 193 

Pleasures are like poppies, 120 

Pledge of Band of Mercy, 25 

Plow deep while sluggards sleep, 

144 
Poe, Edgar Allen, 143 
Point of View, The, Richards, 26 
"Politest Clerk, The," 192 
Politeness, 24, 192 
Polk, James K., 60 
Pompous Young Man, The, 98 
Poor Boy's Chances, Habberton, 134 
Pope, Alexander, 74, 205, 211 
Porter, David, 127, 228 
Porter, Noah, 90 
"Practice Makes Perfect," 181 
Prayer at Morning, Stevenson, 68 
Prescott, William H., 198 
President Grant's Way, 22 
President Wilson's Advice to Boys, 

99 
Presidents, Our, 213 
Price of a Lie, The, 70 
Procrastination, 61 
Proctor, Adelaide A., 56 
Progress, 149 
Proofs of Nobility, 91 
Proud Flag of the Free, 108 
Psalm of Life, The, Longfellow, 

149, 180 
Pulaski, Count Casimir, 154 
Punctuality, 229 
Purpose, 50, 81, 94 
Putnam, Israel, 108 
Pyle, Howard, 154 

Quarrel Soon Ended, A, 67 
Questions, 183 

Radium, 199 

Raggylug, Ernest Thompson Seton, 

19 
Rainy Day, The, Longfellow, 90 
Ramee, Louise de la, 120 
Randolph, John, 218 
Raphael, 178 

Read, Thomas B., 155, 159 
Reade, Charles, 220 
Reading maketh a full man, 118 
Ready Answer, The, 129 
Real Hero, A, 189 
Red Cross, The, 51, 53, 97, 206 
Red Cross Flag, The Story of the, 

52 
Red, White and Blue, The, 225 
Reed, Thomas B., 44 
Reid, Samuel Chester, 122 
Reid, Whltelaw, 54 
Rembrandt, 37 
Remembrance, 120 
Remington, Frederic, 34 
Republic, The, 187 
Respect for the Aged, 223 



Revere, Paul, 103 

Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 148 

Rhodes, Cecil, 167 

Richards, Laura E., 12, 26, 41, 90, 

201, 206, 210 
Right and wrong, 207 
Ring in the new school-books, 206 
Ring out, wild bells, 102 
Robert Bruce and the Spider, 54 
Robert Burns and the Farmer, 82 
Robert Fulton, 148 
Robert Louis Stevenson Songs, 68 
Robert of Lincoln, 188 
Robert of Sicily, Longfellow, 149 
Robins, Mrs. R. D. C, 134 
Robinson Crusoe, 189 
Rochambeau, Count de, 203 
Rock Me to Sleep, 203 
Rock of Ages, 61, 158, 218 
Room at the Top, 17 
Roosevelt, Theodore, 5 4 
Ross, Betsy, 225 
Rossetti, Christina G., 100 
Rousseau, Jean Jacques, 235 
Rubens, Peter Paul, 237 
Rubinstein, Anton, 79 
Ruskin, John, 131 
Ryan, 216 

Saavedra, Miguel de Cervantes, 37 
Sailor Man, The, Richards, 12 
Salt in Your Character, 159 
Salute, The, 225 

Salute to the Flag, A, Sumner, 107 
Sangster, Margaret, 95, 178, 203 
Santa Filomena, Longfellow, 206 
Saxe, John Godfrey, 218 
Schiller, Johann C. F. von, 66 
Schofield, John McA., 29 
School-house Stands by the Flag, 

The, Butterworth, 224 
Schoolroom Lesson, A, 42 
Schreyer, Adolph, 202 
Schubert, Franz, 126 
Schumann, Robert, 108 
Schurz, Carl, 152 
Schuyler, Philip, 74 
Scott, Sir Walter, 22, 23 
Scott, Winfield, 224 
Scudder, Horace E., 43 
Secret of Success, The, 20, 56 
Self-Control, 69 
Self-Praise, 45 
Self-Reliance, 34 
Self-Sacrifice, 189 
September Days, 18 
September days are here, 18 
Series of Don'ts, A, 93 
Service, 70, 90 
Set yourself earnestly, 89 
Seward, William Henry, 207 
Shakespeare, William, 71, 104, 119, 

130, 142, 148, 160, 188 
Shall w© grow weary, 182 
Shaw, Henry Wheeler, 187 
Sheridan, Philip H, 156, 



INDEX 



249 



Sheridan, Richard B., 29, 30 

Sheridan's Ride, Read, 155 

Sherman, Frank Dempster, 164, 199 

Sherman, William T., 131 

Ship of State, The, Longfellow, 149 

Sigourney, Mrs. Lydia H., 10 

Silently Falling Snow, The, 113 

Sing, children, sing! 166 

Sing, Smile, Slumber, 149 

Singer, The, Whittier, 13 

Slanderer, The, 48 

Sleepy Song, Field, 11 

Smart, Alexander, 161 

Smiles, Samuel, 90 

Smith, Francis Hopkinson, 49 

Smith, Dr. Samuel F., 47, 48 

Smith, W. S., 219 

Snapapple Night, 57 

Snow, The, 113 

Snow-Bound, Whittier, 92 

So are great deeds, 117 

So here hath been dawning, 131 

So nigh to grandeur, 210 

Socrates, 81 

Soldier's Reprieve, The, Robbins, 
134 

Solomon, 176 

Solon, 43 

Somebody did a golden deed, 90 

Somebody's Mother, 202 

Song of Easter, A, 166 

Song of Marion's Men, Bryant, 150 

Song of Nature, The, 60 

Song of Peace, The, 210 

Song of the Shirt, The, Hood, 10 

Sowing, 193 

Sowing and Reaping, 158 

Sowing the Seed, 158 

Sparrow, The, 188 

Spartan Respect for the Aged, 223 

Speak Softly, Gently, 122 

Spencer, Herbert, 191 

Spofford, Harriet, 180 

Spring, 164, 165 

Spring and Her Helpers, 165 

Spy, The, Cooper, 20 

St. Elizabeth and the Sick Child, 53 

St. Patrick's Day, 161 

St. Patrick and the Snakes, 162 

St. Valentine's Day, 140 

Standish, Miles, 33 

Stanton, Edwin McMasters, 94 

Star-Spangled Banner, The, 31, 64, 
110, 111, 216 

Stars and Posies, 210 

Stars and Stripes, The, 225 

Stars of the Summer Night, Long- 
fellow, 149 

Steam, 116 

Stedman, Edmund C, 37 

Stephenson, George, 221 

Stetson, Charlotte P., 94 

Stevenson, Robert Louis, 33, 68, 69, 
168 

Stoddart, Miss A. D., 65 

Stolen Corn, The, 101 



Stoop as Tou Go Through, 66 
Story of a Seed, The, 177 
Story of Andrew Carnegie, The, 76 
Story of Edison, The, 133 
Story of Eugene Field, The, 10 
Story of the First Corn, The, 78 
Story of Lafayette, The, 14 
Story of My Life, Helen Keller, 87 
Story of Phcebe Cary, The, 12, 190 
Story of Samuel Johnson, The, 22 
Story of the Red Cross Flag, 52 
Story of Truth, The, Bakewell, 101 
Strange Story of Sam Houston, The, 

151 
Strauss, Richard, 223 
Strongest Minds, 133 
Success, 20, 56, 89, 130, 181 
Success in Life, 178 
Such is the patriot's boast, 109 
Sugar-Plum Tree, The, Field, 11 
Summer Time, 235 
Summer's a step behind, 15 
Sumner, Charles, 107 
Suppose, Phcebe Cary, 13, 64 
Swain, 37 

"Swamp Fox, The," 150 
Sweet and Low, 35 
Sweet Pea, A, 210 
Swift, Jonathan, 80 
Swinburne, Algernon Charles, 177 
Sympathy of Abraham Lincoln, 

The, 68 

Taft, William Howard, 20 

Tainter, Charles Sumner, 190 

Tales from Shakespeare, Lamb, 143 

Talking in Their Sleep, Thomas, 26 

Tamlane, 58 

Tap, tap, 167 

Taylor, Bayard, 111, 172 

Taylor, Zachary, 76 

Teach me, Father, 26 

Teach me to feel, 205 

Telegraph-Cable, The Laying of the, 

79 
Telephone, The, 152 
Temperance, 29 

Tennyson, Alfred, 34, 35, 102, 195 
Ten Things to Remember, 130 
Texas Independence, 152 
Thackeray, William M., 96 
Thanksgiving, 78 
Thanksgiving Day, 78 
Thanksgiving Entertainments, 78 
Thanksgiving Joys, 78 
Thaxter, Celia, 166, 237 
The best and highest thing, 193 
The boys and girls, 220 
The boys that are wanted, 88 
The fisher who draws in his net, 

129 
The friendship between me, 32 
The fruit, when the blossom, 190 
The genius of success, 131 
The great secret of success, 94 
The height of my ambition, 64 



250 



INDEX 



The heights by great men, 22 

The leaves are fading, 59 

The moment I heard of America, 

14 
The plainest face has beauty, 132 
The proudest now, 62 
The riches of the Commonwealth, 

91 
The soul asks honor, 33 
The sweetest bird, 37 
The tissues of life, 162 
The truly generous, 59 
The very flowers that bend, 71 
The words which thou hast uttered, 

36 
Then Conquer We Must, 110 
There are as many pleasant things, 

12 
There are barrels, 211 
There are no fragments so precious, 

61 
There is a bird I know, 187 
There is a pretty little flower, 120 
There is always hope, 83 
There is beauty, 219 
There is only one failure, 117 
There is Room Enough at the Top, 

Marden, 18 
There's Music in the Air, 44 
There's music in the sighing, 47 
This above all, 188 
This is the East, 185 
This world is not so bad, 14 
Thoroughness, 65 
Thorwaldsen, Albert Bertel, 73 
Thou must be true, 51 
Though your duty may be hard, 29 
Thought is the seed, 228 
Three Rules of Happiness, Palmer, 

235 
Time is always on the wing, 229 
Time is Short, 181 
'Tis Always Morning Somewhere, 

149 
'Tis the time of the year, 95 
To a Field Mouse, 120 
To all the world I give my hand, 

106 
To be polite, 129 
To form character, 162 
To Our Friends, 26 
Toil Spells Success, 191 
Toplady, Augustus M., 61 
Training for Greatness, Marden, 

132, 139 
Traverse the Desert, 24 
Tribune of the People, A, Marden, 

129 
Trine, 148, 182, 199 
True Dignity, 220 

True dignity abides with him, 220 
True Manhood, 160 
True Nobility, 91 
Time wisdom is to know, 1, 151 
True Worth, 17, 24, 65, 82 
True worth is in being, 82 



Trumbull, John, 220 
Trust, 59, 100, 158 
Truth, 70, 188 
Truthfulness, 22 
Try, Try, Again, 54 
Trying, 191 

Turner, Joseph M. W., 188 
Turning About, Myers, 42 
Twain, Mark, 80 
Twice one are two, 234 
Two Foolish Birds, The, 64 
Two Gardeners, The, 165 
Two Men of Worth, 65 
Two Roads, The, Richter, 50 
Two Workers, The, Avery, 28 
Tyler, John, 170 

Uncle Sam's Wedding, 115 

Under the leaves, Laighton, 182 

Uncle Tom's Cabin, 92 

Unkind Words, 84 

Up the airy mountain, 56 

Use dispatch, 199 

Usefulness, 84 

Vacation, 237 

"Vacation is the time," 237 
Vacation Song, 238 
Vacation-Time, 237 
Vacation's Coming, 238 
Vaccination, 99 
Valentine Day, 140 
Value of a Good Name, The, 101 
Value of Things, The, 60, 100 
Van Buren, Martin, 84 
Van Dyke, Henry, 65, 66, 188 
Van Dyke, John Charles, 187 
Van Dyke, Sir Anthony, 165 
Verdi, Guiseppi, 38 
Vespucci, Amerigo, 162 
Veteran Army, The, 145 
Vicar of Wakefield, Goldsmith, 189 
Village Blacksmith, The, Longfel- 
low, 10 
Vinci, Leonardo da, 196 
Voice of April, The, 177 
Voice of Nature, The, 105 
Voltaire, Francois M. A. de, 73, 74 
Voting Day, 62 

Wagner, Richard, 211 
Waif's View of Wealth, A, 59 
Wait and See, 74 
Wake Up, 165 
Wallace, Lewis, 180 
Walled Garden, The, 201 
Ward, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, 122 
Ward, Mrs. Humphrey, 222 
Ward, John Quincy Adams, 237 
Warner, Charles Dudley, 17, 18 
Warren, Joseph, 222 
Washington, Booker T., 185 
Washington, George, 43, 145, 229 
Washington Day Entertainments, 
Sindelar, 146 



INDEX 



251 



Washington Song, 146 

Washington's Birthday, 146 

Washington's Rules of Conduct, 147 

Waste Not, Want Not, 168 

Watch Tour Words, 43 

Waterman, Nixon, 108 

Watt, James, 116 

Watts, Isaac, 56 

Wayne, Anthony, 103 

We can never be too careful, 158 

We give our heads, 226 

We hold these truths, 174 

We live in deeds, 208 

We should make the same use, 125 

We sleep, but the loom, 113 

We want no kings, 91 

Webster, Daniel, 115, 116, 216 

Webster, Noah, 43 

Wellington, Arthur W. (Duke of), 

196 
Wellington and the Toad, 122 
We're Tenting To-night, 216 
Wesley, Rev. John, 217, 228 
Westinghouse, George, 35 
What Broke the China Pitcher, 

Howliston, 61 
What Does Little Birdie Say, 168 
Whate'er you think, 158 
"Whatever is Worth Doing," 130 
What is a Flag Worth? 225 
What Kind of Boys, 106 
"What means that star," 96 
"What Shall I Do?" 81 
What Shall the New Year Be? 104 
What the Clock Told Polly, 183 
What Will You Choose, 161 
Wheatfield, The, Richards, 91 
When the Swallows Homeward Fly, 

Abt, 95 
When we plant a tree, 186 
When you find one good and true, 

79 
Whenever a task is set, 99 
Where honor ceaseth, 160 
Where the Shine Came From, 200 
Which Loved Best, Allison, 88 
Whitaker, Dr., 167 
White, Peregrine, 73 
White Carnation, The, 203 
Whitman, Walt, 140, 216 
Whitney, Eli, 86 
Whittier, John G., 36, 62, 78, 91, 

92, 107, 158, 162, 182, 209 
Whittier's Birthday, 91 
Who Began It, 140 



Who shall be queen of the May? 

195 
Why sigh you for jewels? 17 
Wilcox, Ella Wheeler, 13, 55, 89, 

91, 166 
Wilkie, Sir David, 71 
Willard, Frances E., 27 
William Penn and the Indians, 41 
William Tell, 74 
Willis, Nathaniel Parker, 117 
Wilson, Augusta Jane (Evans), 201 
Wilson, James Grant, 193 
Wilson, Woodrow, 99 
Winslow, Edward, 45 
Wireless Telegraphy, 190 
Wisdom, 17, 24, 65, 82, 118, 131, 148 
With slow and reverent tread, 215 
With Washington's name, 213 
Wolfe, James, 104 
Wonderful Weaver, A, 127 
Wood, Leonard, 38 
Woodman Spare That Tree, 38 
Woodworth, Samuel, 112 
Worcester, Joseph Emerson, 54 
Words, 152 

Wordsworth, William, 133, 178 
Work, 12, 20, 22, 83, 131, 185, 201 
Work, Alice Cary, 190 
Work and Play, 22, 105 
Work for the Night is Coming, 12, 

80, 134 
Work for some good, 9 
Work of the Week, The, 132 
Work while you work, 65 
Workingman's Song, Mackay, 12 
World I live in. The, Helen Keller, 

87 
World is What We Make It, The, 

91 
Wolton, Sir Henry, 69 
Worth, 17, 24, 65, 82, 131 
Would you think it? 164 
Wounded Curlew, The, 198 
Wright, Wilbur, 185 
Wronging Others, 22 
Wynken, Blynken and Nod, Field, 

11 



Ye who love the Republic, 62, 224 

You cannot dream, 88 

You hear that boy laughing? 35 

You Never Miss the Water, 77, 169 

Youth, 83 

Yussouf, Lowell, 123 



THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL CLASSICS 

For Supplementary Reading and Stud y 
A new series of reading books, which offers the highest class of 
literature for all grades, designed to supplement or replace the regu- 
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Accurate and authentic texts — Notes and numbered lines 
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The grading here given conforms to that adopted by a majority of 
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Price, per copy, 5 cents, postpaid, unless otherwise mentioned. 

SECOND YEAR 

Bow-Wow and Mew-Mew. Grades 1-3. By Georgiana M. Craik. 
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FIFTH YEAR 
The King of the Golden River. Grades 4-6. By John Ruskin. 32 pages. 

SIXTH YEAR 
Rip Van Winkle and The Author's Account of Himself. Grades 5-8. 

By Washington Irving. From The Sketch Booh. 32 pages. 
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The Courtship of Miles Standish. Grades 6-8. By Henry W. Long- 
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Enoch Arden. Grades 6-8. By Alfred Tennyson. 32 pages. 
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Russell Lowell. 32 pages. 

BECKLEY-CAKDY CO. Educational Publishers CHICAGO 



THE NIXIE BUNNY BOOKS 

By Joseph C. Sindelar — 

NIXIE BUNNY IN MANNERS-LAND 
A Rabbit Story of Good Manners 

It can truthfully be said that very few children's books have 
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The Nixie Bunny books have been adopted by fourteen 
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BECKLEY-CARDY CO. Educational Publishers CHICAGO 



MORNING EXERCISES FOR ALL THE YEAR 

A DAY BOOK FOR TEACHERS 

By Joseph C. Sindelar 

Author of Nixie Bunny in Manners-Land, 

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This is a new work — just published — and the only really complete 
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224 pages. Cloth. Price, 60 cents 

THE BEST CHRISTMAS BOOK 

Edited by Joseph C. Sindelar 

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Illustrated. 192 pages. Paper. Price, 30 cents 
BECKLEY-CARDY CO. Educational Publishers CHICAGO 



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